Holmyard studied at Sexey's School, Bruton, and Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, and was a member of the Royal Asiatic Society.
His scholarly work included rectification of accounts of the history of alchemy, particularly in relation with Islamic science.
[2] Holmyard served as the founding editor of the scientific review and history of science journal Endeavour.
"His historicized science books were an enormous and long-term commercial success, with Elementary Chemistry (1925) alone selling half-a-million copies by 1960.
[4] In contrast, he had a great impact on the future geneticist C. H. Waddington, who followed in his footsteps by matriculating at Sidney Sussex College in Cambridge.