Tim Radford

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

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.

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

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