# Maxwell Garnett

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English educationalist, barrister, peace campaigner (1880–1958)

Maxwell Garnett CBE Garnett in 1944 Born James Clerk Maxwell Garnett (1880-10-13)13 October 1880 Cherry Hinton, Cambridge, United Kingdom Died 19 March 1958(1958-03-19) (aged 77) Isle of Wight, United Kingdom Education St Paul's School, London Alma mater Trinity College, Cambridge Occupations Barrister physicist educationist activist Known for Maxwell Garnett approximation Children Peggy Jay Father William Garnett

**James Clerk Maxwell Garnett** [CBE](/source/Commander_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire) (13 October 1880 – 19 March 1958), commonly known as **Maxwell Garnett**, was an English [educationist](/source/Educationist), [barrister](/source/Barrister), [peace campaigner](/source/Peace_campaigner) and [physicist](/source/Physicist). He was [Secretary](/source/Secretary) of the [League of Nations Union](/source/League_of_Nations_Union).[1] The [Maxwell Garnett approximation](/source/Effective_medium_approximations#Maxwell_Garnett_equation) is named after him.

## Early life

Garnett was born on 13 October 1880 at [Cherry Hinton](/source/Cherry_Hinton), [Cambridge](/source/Cambridge), [England](/source/England), the son of physicist [William Garnett](/source/William_Garnett_(professor)), and was named after his father's friend [James Clerk Maxwell](/source/James_Clerk_Maxwell).[2] He was educated at [St Paul's School, London](/source/St_Paul's_School%2C_London), and [Trinity College, Cambridge](/source/Trinity_College%2C_Cambridge), gaining scholarships at both.[1]

At Cambridge, Garnett worked in [optics](/source/Optics), publishing papers on the optical properties of metals and [metal glasses](/source/Amorphous_metal) in the early years of the new century.[3][4][5]

## Career

He came upt with [Maxwell Garnett approximation](/source/Effective_medium_approximations#Maxwell_Garnett_equation) for effective mediums in 1904.[6]

Garnett was an examiner at the [Board of Trade](/source/Board_of_Trade) from 1904 to 1912, during which time he was [called to the bar](/source/Call_to_the_bar) from the [Inner Temple](/source/Inner_Temple) in 1908. He was [Principal](/source/Principal_(college)) of the [Manchester College of Technology](/source/University_of_Manchester_Institute_of_Science_and_Technology) from 1912 to 1920, then returned to the capital city as Secretary of the [League of Nations Union](/source/League_of_Nations_Union) from 1920 to 1938).[1]

His daughter [Peggy](/source/Peggy_Jay) was later convinced that her father's career was "wrecked by his gift for launching daringly radical and eventually successful new ideas two decades too soon."[7]

## Personal life

In 1910, Garnett married Margaret Lucy Poulton, daughter of the evolutionary biologist [Sir Edward Poulton](/source/Sir_Edward_Poulton) FRS, in [Headington](/source/Headington), [Oxford](/source/Oxford).[8] They had six children, including Peggy Jay. The Garnetts lived at 37 [Park Town](/source/Park_Town%2C_Oxford), [North Oxford](/source/North_Oxford), from 1939 until 1955, when they moved to the [Isle of Wight](/source/Isle_of_Wight).[9]

Garnett died at his Isle of Wight home on 19 March 1958;[10] after a funeral at [St Helen's Church](/source/St_Helen's_Church%2C_St_Helens%2C_Isle_of_Wight) his body was cremated at Southampton[11] and his cremated remains were then set in the transept floor of the church.[12]

## Honours

Garnett was appointed a Commander of the [Order of the British Empire](/source/Order_of_the_British_Empire) in 1919.

## Selected publications

**Journal papers**

- Maxwell Garnett, J. C. (1904). ["Colours in metal glasses and in metallic films"](https://doi.org/10.1098%2Frsta.1904.0024). *[Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society](/source/Philosophical_Transactions_of_the_Royal_Society)*. **203** (359–371): 385–420. [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[1904RSPTA.203..385G](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1904RSPTA.203..385G). [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1098/rsta.1904.0024](https://doi.org/10.1098%2Frsta.1904.0024).

- Maxwell Garnett, J. C. (1906). ["Colours in metal glasses, in metallic films, and in metallic solutions"](https://doi.org/10.1098%2Frsta.1906.0007). *[Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society](/source/Philosophical_Transactions_of_the_Royal_Society)*. **205** (387–401): 237–288. [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[1906RSPTA.205..237G](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1906RSPTA.205..237G). [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1098/rsta.1906.0007](https://doi.org/10.1098%2Frsta.1906.0007).

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-cdob_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-cdob_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-cdob_1-2) "Garnett, (James Clerk) Maxwell". *[The Concise Dictionary of National Biography](/source/The_Concise_Dictionary_of_National_Biography)*. Vol. II: G–M. [Oxford University Press](/source/Oxford_University_Press). 1992. p. 1106.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Oxford_University_Press_2-0)** ["Garnett, (James Clerk) Maxwell"](http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/printable/33333). *[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography](/source/Oxford_Dictionary_of_National_Biography)*. Oxford University Press. 2004–14.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-composite_3-0)** Simovski, Constantin (2018). *Composite Media with Weak Spatial Dispersion*. [CRC Press](/source/CRC_Press). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1351166225](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1351166225).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-paper1_4-0)** Maxwell Garnett, J. C. (1904). ["Colours in metal glasses and in metallic films"](https://doi.org/10.1098%2Frsta.1904.0024). *[Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society](/source/Philosophical_Transactions_of_the_Royal_Society)*. **203** (359–371): 385–420. [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[1904RSPTA.203..385G](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1904RSPTA.203..385G). [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1098/rsta.1904.0024](https://doi.org/10.1098%2Frsta.1904.0024).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-paper2_5-0)** Maxwell Garnett, J. C. (1906). ["Colours in metal glasses, in metallic films, and in metallic solutions"](https://doi.org/10.1098%2Frsta.1906.0007). *[Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society](/source/Philosophical_Transactions_of_the_Royal_Society)*. **205** (387–401): 237–288. [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[1906RSPTA.205..237G](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1906RSPTA.205..237G). [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1098/rsta.1906.0007](https://doi.org/10.1098%2Frsta.1906.0007).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-theory_6-0)** Markel, Vadim A. (2016). ["Introduction to the Maxwell Garnett approximation: tutorial"](https://www.osapublishing.org/josaa/abstract.cfm?URI=josaa-33-7-1244). *[Journal of the Optical Society of America A](/source/Journal_of_the_Optical_Society_of_America_A)*. **33** (7): 1244–1256. [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[2016JOSAA..33.1244M](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2016JOSAA..33.1244M). [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1364/JOSAA.33.001244](https://doi.org/10.1364%2FJOSAA.33.001244). [PMID](/source/PMID_(identifier)) [27409680](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27409680). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [29531454](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:29531454).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["Peggy Jay: A tribute"](https://www.heathandhampstead.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Peggy_Jay_tribute.pdf) (PDF). The Heath & Hampstead Society. May 2008. Retrieved 2 November 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-genealogy1_8-0)** ["James Clerk Maxwell (Maxwell) Garnett 1880–1958"](http://genealogy.links.org/links-cgi/readged?/home/ben/camilla-genealogy/current+!0:126721+2-2-0-1-0). *Links Genealogy*. Retrieved 3 August 2014.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-symonds_9-0)** Symonds, Ann Spokes (1998). "Families". *The Changing Faces of North Oxford*. Vol. Book One. Witney: [Robert Boyd Publications](/source/Robert_Boyd_Publications). pp. 81–83, 95–96. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [1-899536-25-6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-899536-25-6).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** "Dr. Maxwell Garnett Dies at Seaview". *[Isle of Wight County Press](/source/Isle_of_Wight_County_Press)*. 22 March 1958. p. 3.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** "The Late Dr. Maxwell Garnett, Funeral at St Helens". *[Isle of Wight County Press](/source/Isle_of_Wight_County_Press)*. 29 March 1956. p. 5.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** *St Helens Church Burial Register*. Isle of Wight Record Office, Hillside, Newport, IW.

## External links

- [Works by or about Maxwell Garnett](https://archive.org/search.php?query=%28%28subject%3A%22Garnett%2C%20James%20Clerk%20Maxwell%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22James%20Clerk%20Maxwell%20Garnett%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Garnett%2C%20James%20Clerk%20Maxwell%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22James%20Clerk%20Maxwell%20Garnett%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Garnett%2C%20J%2E%20C%2E%20M%2E%22%20OR%20title%3A%22James%20Clerk%20Maxwell%20Garnett%22%20OR%20description%3A%22James%20Clerk%20Maxwell%20Garnett%22%29%20OR%20%28%221880-1958%22%20AND%20Garnett%29%29%20AND%20%28-mediatype:software%29) at the [Internet Archive](/source/Internet_Archive)

- [Books by James Clerk Maxwell Garnett](https://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&page=1&rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_27%3AJames%20Clerk%20Maxwell%20Garnett) on [Amazon.com](/source/Amazon.com)

- [(James Clerk) Maxwell Garnett (1880–1958), Barrister-at-Law](http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp75051/james-clerk-maxwell-garnett) portraits in the [National Portrait Gallery, London](/source/National_Portrait_Gallery%2C_London)

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