Tim Radford

For the British general, see Tim Radford (British Army officer).

Tim Radford
Radford in 2012
Born	Timothy Robin Radford (1940-10-09)9 October 1940 Rawene, New Zealand
Died	10 February 2025(2025-02-10) (aged 84)
Education	Sacred Heart College, Auckland
Occupation(s)	Journalist and writer
Notable credit(s)	Science editor at The Guardian , 1980–2005
Spouse	Maureen Coveney ​ ​ (m. 1964;died 2024)​
Children	2

Timothy Robin Radford (9 October 1940 – 10 February 2025) was a British journalist who was the science editor for The Guardian newspaper from 1980 to 2005.

Early life

Timothy Robin Radford was born in Rawene, New Zealand, on 9 October 1940, and grew up in Devonport, near Auckland. ^[1] He was educated at Sacred Heart College, Auckland. ^{[1] [2]} At 16, he joined The New Zealand Herald as a reporter. He moved to the United Kingdom in 1961, where he worked for Fishing News, followed by jobs on local newspapers. ^[3] He then had a stint as a civil servant, working at first as a Whitehall information officer, ^[1] and subsequently working in journalism, notably for The Guardian newspaper, as well as being a contributor to other publications including The Lancet , New Scientist and The London Review of Books . ^[4]

Career

Radford worked for The Guardian for 32 years. Over the course of his career, he was letters editor, arts editor, literary editor, and science editor — holding the last post from 1980 until 2005. ^[5] Radford became increasingly interested in climate change and wrote his first book The Crisis of Life on Earth in 1990. ^[3] He also served on the UK committee for the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction.

In 2011 he co-founded the Climate News Network website. ^[3]

Personal life and death

In 1964, Radford married Maureen Coveney. They had two children, William and Stella, and were married until Maureen's death in 2024. ^{[1] [3]}

Radford died on 10 February 2025, in Eastbourne, UK at the age of 84. ^{[1] [3]}

Awards

Radford won four Association of British Science Writers awards: ^[6]

• Lifetime achievement award for services to science journalism, 2004
• Best feature on science subject in a national or regional newspaper, 2004, for Touching the Void, published in The Guardian on 22 July 2004
• Best communication of science in a non-science context, 2001, for Tell us, Solly, published in the London Review of Books on 20 September 2001
• Other awards in 1992 and 1997

References

1. Bates, Stephen (13 February 2025). "Tim Radford obituary". The Guardian . Retrieved 13 February 2025.
2. Radford, Tim (3 June 2008). "The Guardian writer profile". London. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
3. Thornton, Jacqui (15 March 2025). "Tim Radford" . The Lancet. 405 (10482): 888. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(25)00465-9. ISSN   0140-6736. PMID   40090334.
4. Highfield, Roger (12 February 2025). "Tim Radford (1940-2025)". absw.org.uk. Association of British Science Writers . Retrieved 17 February 2025.
5. Radford, Tim (2011). "Of course scientists can communicate". Nature. 469 (7331): 445. Bibcode:2011Natur.469..445R. doi:10.1038/469445a. PMID   21270851 . Retrieved 6 October 2012.
6. "Association of British Science Writers award winners" . Retrieved 6 October 2012.

Bibliography

• The Consolations of Physics: Why the Wonders of the Universe can make you Happy (2018), 192 pages, Sceptre (August 2018), Paperback ISBN   978-1473658165
• The Address Book: Our Place in the Scheme of Things (2009), 224 pages, Fourth Estate (April 2011), Paperback ISBN   978-0007356294; Hardback ISBN   978-0007255207
• The Crisis of Life on Earth: Our Legacy from the Second Millennium (1990), 224 pages, Thorsons (October 1990), Hardback ISBN   978-0722521397