Thomas Maxwell Harris

Thomas Maxwell Harris FRS (8 January 1903 – 1 May 1983) was an English paleobotanist. His studies of the assemblages in Scoresby Sound, Greenland and in Yorkshire were significant in developing the field of palaeobotany.

Early life and education Harris was born 8 January 1903. He came from wealthy Leicester families of business people, inventors and engineers. His father, Alex Charles Harris, was an engineer with over 100 patents to his name, some of which were a commercial success. He encouraged his son to be interested in natural history. The family of his mother, Lucy Frances Evans, owned the town's flour mill. He had 2 sisters. After help from his father and a correspondence course he had the qualifications to start at University College, Nottingham when he was 16. He was awarded a Pass degree in chemistry, physiology and botany from University of London, and was influenced by Henry Smith Holden to follow what he was seriously interested in, which led to Harris's career in paleobotany via his initial idea to become a country doctor with a side-line in natural history.

Harris was appointed as a professor at the University of Reading in 1934, working in the botany department with Theodora Lisle Prankerd and Terence Ingold. It expanded in number of academic staff and moved buildings during his tenure. He also supported the merger of Botany with the Department of Agriculture and Horticulture.

At Reading he was very involved in undergraduate teaching of plants, including leading field excursions to both local and the more distant locations of North Wales and the Cairngorms.

Partial bibliography Although the majority of his publications name Harris as the sole author, most are the result of substantial collaborations. The Fossil Flora of Scoresby Sound East Greenland (Copenhagen, 1931). The British Rhaetic Flora (London, 1938). British Purbeck Charophyta (London, 1939). Liassic and Rhaetic Plants collected in 1936-38 from East Greenland, etc. (Copenhagen, 1946). Conifers of the Taxiodiaceæ from the Wealden Formation of Belgium, etc. (Brussels, 1953). The Yorkshire Jurassic flora (five volumes, London, 1961–1979).