Highfield served as the Science editor of The Daily Telegraph for more than 20 years. During that time he set up a long running science writing award for young people, a photography competition, the 'scientists meet the media' party, and organised mass experiments from 1994 with BBC's Tomorrow's World, called Live Lab and Megalab, such as the 'Truth Test' with Richard Wiseman. He was the editor of the British magazine New Scientist from 2008 to 2011, where he redesigned the magazine and introduced new sections, notably Aperture and Instant Expert. , Highfield became the Director of External Affairs at the Science Museum Group. In 2012, he published the results of a mass intelligence test with Adrian Owen. In 2016 he launched a critique of Big Data in biology with Ed Dougherty of Texas A&M and Peter Coveney. In 2019, Highfield became the Science Director at the Science Museum Group.. For the group, he wrote a series of long-form blogs about the science of Covid19 Highfield is a Visiting Professor of Public Engagement at the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology. He is also Visiting Professor of Public Engagement at the Department of Chemistry at UCL and a Member of the Medical Research Council.
In 2020, his book The Dance of Life: Symmetry Cells and How We Become Human, co-authored with Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz, was published in the UK and US. The first-person account of trailblazing research on the first artificial embryo-like structure, extending the time embryos survive in the laboratory and the dawn of human life was described by Alice Roberts as 'the best book about science and life that I have ever read'.. The book was positively reviewed in and , for example.
''The Mind Readers''
In 2014 he wrote a 10,000-word article The Mind Readers in Mosaic, published by the Wellcome Trust. His account of the efforts to communicate with brain damaged patients that suffer disorders of consciousness was reproduced in other media worldwide, such as Gizmodo, The Week, The Independent and Pacific Standard.
''Supercooperators''
In 2011 his book Supercooperators: The Mathematics of Evolution, Altruism and Human Behaviour was published, co-authored with Martin Nowak. A review published in Nature by Manfred Milinski describes the book as "part autobiography, part textbook, and reads like a best-selling novel." David Willetts, in the Financial Times, described the book as an "excellent example" of using the nexus of evolutionary biology, game theory and neuroscience to understand the development of cooperation in society
''After Dolly''
In 2006 his book After Dolly: The Uses and Misuses of Human Cloning was published, co-authored with Ian Wilmut. Steven Poole in The Guardian describes the book as "an extremely lucid and readable explanation of the history of cloning and biologists' ideas for the future."
''The Science of Harry Potter''
In 2002 his book The Science of Harry Potter: How Magic Really Works was published. Christine Kenneally in The New York Times describes the book as "an enjoyably indirect survey of modern science."
''The Physics of Christmas''
In 1998 his book The Physics of Christmas: from the aerodynamics of reindeer to the thermodynamics of turkey was published. The British edition, Can Reindeer Fly?, got the world's shortest book review
''Frontiers of Complexity''
In 1996 his book Frontiers of Complexity: the search for order in a chaotic world was published, co-authored with Peter Coveney. The Nobel Laureate Philip Warren Anderson commented that 'I believe firmly, with Coveney and Highfield, that complexity is the scientific frontier.'
''The Private Lives of Albert Einstein''
In 1993 his book The Private Lives of Albert Einstein was published, co-authored with Paul Carter.
In 2014, he gave the Douglas Adams Memorial Lecture for Save the Rhino with Simon Singh. Highfield is a member of the Longitude Committee, for the Longitude Prize 2014, Highfield wrote for a time for Newsweek. and continues to write for The Daily Telegraph and The Evening Standard After testing a treadmill desk in 2006, Highfield uses one at work in the Science Museum and has advocated their widespread adoption. He often invites his visitors to take it for a spin, including Heston Blumenthal, Craig Venter, Samira Ahmed, Al Jean, Ben Miller and Dame Gail Rebuck He has been listed on the Evening Standard Progress 1000 in 2012 and 2016. In 2012, Highfield gave the Wilkins-Bernal-Medawar Lecture, on Heroes of Science, at the Royal Society. In 2020, Highfield was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences
Personal life
Highfield married Julia Brookes in 1992 and has one son and one daughter.
