John Thomson (1765-1846) was a Scottish physician and surgeon, who was asked by the family of William Cullen (1710-1790) to write a biography of his life. With the help of a number of people, including his eldest son William Thomson, Dr. Thomson published the first volume of his biography in 1832. Although he did not live to see the second volume published (1859), he was responsible for a majority of its content.

Volume 1 describes the life of William Cullen from his birth in 1710 to around the time he became the sole Professor of the Practice of Physic (1773) at the Edinburgh Medical School.