Richard Beatty
Past Projects
Richard Beatty - writer and editor
The Science of Animals
The Math(s) Book

2018-2021

  • Writing articles for Dorling Kindersley’s book Micro Life (published autumn 2021)
  • Writing glossaries for the Britannica Children’s Encyclopedia
  • Writing articles and the glossary for Dorling Kindersley’s The Science of the Ocean (published as Oceanology in the US)
  • Proofreading and writing the glossary for the Toucan Books/Dorling Kindersley title The Math(s) Book
  • Writing articles for Dorling Kindersley’s The Science of Animals
  • Writing the glossary for Dorling Kindersley’s Super Simple Biology

I also proofread many non-fiction books especially for Toucan Books Ltd throughout this period.

How to be good at Maths
Wildlife of the World

2015-2017

  • Co-authoring Biology: An Illustrated History of Life Science, edited by Tom Jackson. (About 20 per cent of the articles are by me. Published October 2017)
  • Writing the reference section for the new Dorling Kindersley Children's Encyclopedia (published October 2017)
  • Proofreading for the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
  • Developing sample spreads for an infographics-style children's encyclopedia
  • Writing the glossary for Dorling Kindersley's popular astronomy book The Stars (published 2016)
  • Writing the glossary for Dorling Kindersley's children's book How To Be Good At Maths (published 2016)
  • Writing the glossary for the Dorling Kindersley encyclopedia Wildlife of the World (published 2015)
Richard Beatty at NLS
Science Year by Year

2011-2014

  • Proofreading How to Build a Universe by Ben Gilliland (published January 2015)
  • Writing an update for the Guidebook of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
  • Writing the glossary for Dorling Kindersley’s major reference book Science Year by Year (published autumn 2013)
  • Fact-checking for Dorling Kindersley’s atlas-encyclopedia What’s Where in the World (published 2013)
  • Writing articles for The Botanics, the magazine of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE), on subjects including storm damage, lichens, algal research and the Herbarium at the Garden
  • Writing the glossary for Dorling Kindersley's The Aircraft Book (published April 2013)
  • Writing articles on topics in the history of mathematics for the title 100 Ponderables: Mathematics (published November 2012)
  • Providing updates for a new edition of the children's book Arctic & Antarctic in Dorling Kindersley's Eyewitness series (published February 2012)
  • Writing the glossary for Dorling Kindersley's encyclopedia History Year by Year (published October 2011)
  • Writing the glossary for Dorling Kindersley's The Pregnant Body Book (published July 2011)
  • Proofreading children's books on dinosaurs and the solar system
  • Featuring in the Spring 2011 issue of the National Library of Scotland's magazine Discover NLS, in connection with my ongoing work with the Oxford English Dictionary
  • Academic proofreading and research work (various)
Natural History Book

2009-2010

  • Contributing feature articles to all four 2010 issues of The Botanics
  • Compiling an editorial style guide for the publications department of RBGE
  • Editing a garden guide for RBGE
  • Proofreading a Children's Book of Music
  • Writing plant descriptions for Dorling Kindersley's blockbuster title The Natural History Book
  • Writing the glossary for Prehistoric, Dorling Kindersley's major encyclopedia of prehistoric life
  • Proofreading the title Swords: A Visual History
  • Proofreading the academic title Engaging 'Hard to Reach' Parents by Anthony Feiler

2008

  • Proofreading an advanced textbook on population genetics
  • Proofreading a children's book on soldiers and soldiering
  • Planning the earth sciences and ecology sections of Dorling Kindersley's New Children's Encyclopedia (published July 2009)
  • Copy-editing a multi-author academic monograph on conservation science sponsored by the Zoological Society of London
  • Editing many articles for the National Geographic Society Encyclopedia of Bird Families of the World
  • Planning the structure and content of children's books on the human body, the Earth's polar regions and the history of inventions
  • Writing 18 articles on marine invertebrates for a new encyclopedia of marine life
  • Writing the glossary for Dorling Kindersley's Animal Life encyclopedia (published October 2008)