Tim Radford had the possibly unique distinction of being, at different times, both literary and science editor of a major newspaper. He was also truly a one-culture man, the other example that I was aware of being Primo Levi, whose great book The Periodic Table, I discovered through Tim.

I was a beneficiary of his mentoring of young writers as both a poetry person, editing Poetry Review, and as a science writer who had studied chemistry. From the time, in 1985, I first pitched a hopeful piece on fireworks to him, through the literary editor years when he published my book reviews and later when he published science pieces that resulted in my first non-fiction book, he was a true guide.