Acquisition of Nursing Critical Thinking Skills Strategies

Acquisition of Nursing Critical Thinking Skills Strategies Aims Aims are general statements of the expected educational intentions of the subject taught (Butt, 2006). The aims of the lesson are: 1. To provide nursing students with opportunities to acquire critical thinking abilities necessary for distinguishing genuine patients 2. To enable students to apply and implement the learnt critical thinking strategies learnt in actual practice with human patients. 3. To provide opportunities for students to develop critical thinking skills and practice clinical decision-making with appropriate faculty guidance. 4. To equip the students with the necessary assessment skills required in identifying patient problems, analysing these problems in terms of their implications for the underlying disease processes and psychosocial needs, and taking actions to optimize the recovery situation. Learning Objectives Learning objectives are specific and measurable targets to be attained by students taught (Kerry, 2002). By the end of the lesson, the student shall be able to: 1. Recall knowledge and facts learnt in class. 2. Apply the comprehension thinking to articulate and establish the relationship among data. 3. Apply the concept learning new hypothetical situation to arrive at correct answer. 4. Apply the analysis in breaking problems into components and examine the components to establish trends and evidence generalization. 5. Present items or thoughts together in new ways-synthesis. 6. Evaluate arguments for validity or relative worth of a view point or process based on established criteria. Teaching Philosophy The teaching philosophy for lessons is derived from social and situational theories that put focus on relationships and interaction between individuals as basis for learning process (International Conference on Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Worasinchai Ribiere, 2014). The theories hold that students must engage in meaningful discussions and conversation with one another in order to learn from them. I hold the view that students learn best from their peers. Consequently, peer learning shall be done in every teaching session. Teaching Strategies Teaching strategies are methods and processes the teacher uses to engage student and facilitate the learning process (Programme for International Student Assessment., Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. 2010). These strategies are outlined below. 1. Peer learning. Peer learning is a learning strategy that entails students learning from themselves in pairs or groups (Frankland, 2007). For peer learning section, the teach er shall group students and provide task for each group to perform. Peers shall together to set up a support network for group learning and support. 2. Observation and feedback. The teacher provides clear, honest, detailed and objective feedback on the learner’s performance so they may identify areas in need of improvement or levels of achievement. 3. Demonstration Demonstration is a type of learning that involves exhibition and explanation of the concept, process, procedure, idea or experiment (Sankaranarayanan Sindhu, 2012). A student will be allocated to perform as a patient with a scenario, and the students will talk to him while he answers them. 4. Reflection. Reflection involves careful consideration of concepts, ideas, knowledge, beliefs, processes and information on the basis of its premises and conclusions that supports it (Suqerman, 2000). Time to make sense of things will be given after the performance of the human stimulator to make sense of everything. 5. Lecture A lecture is a method of teaching that involves the presentation of the subject through talking (Jarvis, 1995). The teacher will explain various concepts in class. Lecture time shall be used by the teacher to teach students about the topic for the session. 6. PowerPoint Presentation The teacher will make a short presentation to introduce the topic and key issues. Procedure The teacher makes a 15 minute PowerPoint presentation followed by a 15 minutes pre-test (multiple answer questions) given to students. Session begins, each having 120 minutes 1. The teacher gives a 15min lecture to students. 2. 15 minutes pre-test given to students (7 multiple answer questions). 3. Teacher asks one student to pretend as patient and the rest of students as the student question. The demonstration and practice on human stimulator as patient last for 20 min. 4. Students can ask reflection questions on the demonstration for 10 min. 5. Students give 10 min break. 6. Students placed in groups and asked to discuss the concept learnt with their peers for 20 min. 7. The teacher gives students observation feedback for 15 min. 8. 15 minutes post-test given to students (5 multiple answer question). Rationale Critical thinking is an essential skill learnt by students studying to become nurses. It is defined as a process of intellectually and actively conceptualizing, using, analysing, synthesizing and assessing information to guide action or belief (Higgs, 2008). Critical thinking is based on intellectual competencies such as clarity, accuracy, breadth and precision and logic (White, Duncan Baumie, 2013). Nurses use critical thinking skills to apply model and theories learnt in their studies to patients (Cody Kenney, 2006). Nurses are required to make well-reasoned clinical decisions derived from reflection and critical thinking. To this end, they are taught critical thinking strategies equip them with skills needed to make decisions reasoning. Critical thinking enables the nurses to establish the needs of patients and make a decision on the most appropriate nursing action to take (Brunner Smeltzer, 2010). Some nursing schools offer critical thinking course as a separate unit requiremen t. Others integrate its concepts in other related course subjects. Irrespective of how nursing schools approach the teaching of critical thinking skills, it remains important in nursing practice. Critical thinking according to Watson and Glaser has three elements. These elements are skills, knowledge and attitude (Hersen Thomas, 2003). A critical thinker must be motivated to look at the problem and find solutions to it. He or she must also have good understanding and knowledge of the problem (Bradshaw Lowenstein, 2011). More importantly the person must have the appropriate skill to apply and knowledge to resolve problems (Andrea, 2009). Nurses are confronted by problems that often need quick and appropriate solutions. For instance, a nurse is expected to make a decision on whether to call a doctor or ignore when the patient conditions deteriorates. His or her decision can either save the patient’s life or lead to death. Hence, they require training on critical skills to equ ip them with abilities to make independent judgement and assessment patient’s conditions (Lyer, 2006). Nurses apply critical thinking skills in various aspects of their work. In assessment, nurses use critical skills to gather relevant data from patients through interview, observation or from records (Comer, 2005). They must also have critical thinking skills to differentiate important from non-important data and validate the data using other data sources. In diagnosis, they use the skills to organize data into patterns, establish a relationship between data and make a comparison between patterns and theories (Wilkinson, 1996). Again, the skills are used to explore individual assumptions on patients’ conditions and make a judgment on patients’ health concern and explain those concerns to the clients. In planning, critical thinking skills are used to identify patients concerns, find out desired health outcome and choose suitable intervention. On the other hand, i n the implementation, nurses use the skills execute interventions make comparison of baseline data and prevailing status. The teaching plan for the delivering the topic ‘Strategies for the Acquisition of Nursing Critical Thinking Skills’, Incorporates entrenched teaching practices and learning theories. The teaching plan is more students centred. Student-centred learning put emphasis on discovery of knowledge as opposed to passing information (Cook Sittler, 2008). Only 50 minutes out of 120 session minutes are dedicated for teachers’ active involvement in class. The remaining time is taken up by student-centred teaching methods that include peer teaching, demonstration, and reflection. These student centred methods of teaching support social learning theories that focus on peer learning as most suitable method of acquiring knowledge. Given that the program involves the development critical thinking skills, students can learn better by applying what they have lea rnt by interacting with peers. The demonstration part of the teaching gives the student opportunity to identify a problem and use learnt skills to solve it. They are expected to extract useful information from the patient and use it to understand the patients concerns. These tasks require critical thinking skills. The course content for teaching critical thinking skills is very elaborate. It encompasses key areas of learning that include the development of critical thinking skills and characteristics of a thinker. Besides, the learning outcomes have all been considered in the development of the teaching plan. Consequently, the plan meets the key requirement of teaching plans. Teaching plans have aims, procedure and resources (Mariotti, 2009). This information is captured in the template and it relates to the main topic. Apart from course content, there are sections of the plan that are to provide information on situational factors that may have effects on the learning critical think ing skills. These sections include learners’ entry level and special needs. Reflection in action Reflection is a philosophical understanding of how one can pick up learning through experience and use distinctive methodologies to the same situation (Nairn et al. 2012). It is also the persistent process of active thinking and putting into consideration the supporting evidence that forms knowledge to a given scenario. Critical reflection is facilitated by a person’s mind and emotions. According to Vachon and Leblanc (2011), reflective practitioners are characterised by open-mindedness, whole heartedness and responsibility. Reflection prior to action is essential for impacting learning and teaching because it allows for the teaching plan to cater for individual learners based on theoretical conceptualisations of their needs and interests. I was, therefore, prepared to meet the students, interested and motivated to learn how to apply critical thinking in the field of nursing correctly. I also anticipated that the use of a variety of teaching strategies such as PowerPoint prese ntation, discussion questions, a brief demonstration, group work and group discussions would cater for the different learning styles of the participants. For the teaching and learning process to conform to how critical thinking is practised, I therefore saw it very vital to modify strategies and approaches during the presentation to meet demands that were not catered for in the planning phase. In delivering the lecture, I was quite confident as I have worked as a clinical nurse in hospital for three years, giving students necessary skills for working in a lab area, hospital or other working environment. The allotted time for my lecture was 15 minutes, but my teaching plan was structured to cover a slightly longer time frame. I, therefore, had to make a decision to adjust some of the strategies and to approach some aspects of the lesson differently from what was outlined in the teaching plan. To ensure that students understood well this concept, I took the initiative of not following the teaching plan as initially outlined. The PowerPoint presentation was the first to be presented. However, there was no enough time for questions from the students, as well as discussion hence clarification of the unclear concept, was not successful. I went on to demonstrate the procedure of acquiring critical thinking while repeating the initial PowerPoint presentation. This demonstration helped to clarify any concerns the participants would have had from the initial presentation. This is because they had a chance to view the step-by-step procedure. My experience facilitated the quick movement through the procedure without neglecting relevant details and therefore the students were able to understand the process. I gave each student the opportunity to demonstrate the procedure. Each student constructed a checklist which he or she would use to perform the procedure. Thereafter, each student demonstrated the procedure while one of the other students explained to the students what was being done. The modifications I made to the teaching plan were important because they met the stated objectives within a given timeframe. The reflective process that I followed in order to make the adjustments was essential, and is terms as reflection in action (Ely Scott, 2007). Feedback played a key role in the process. From the comments made by the students in their fifteen-minute post-test, I believe that the process of reflection was successful. Although there were constraints such as non-adherence to the teaching plan and time shortage, the objectives of the teaching session were successfully met. The students reported that they got an understanding of how to perform the procedure, the steps to follow and the order in which those steps are followed. In addition to the students reporting that they are able to understand the procedure, I was able to estimate how well they understand the procedure based on the demonstration and narration that they exhibited. During each demonstration, I observed the student performing the procedure, and whenever a mistake was being made, I quickly pointed it out so that the correction could be made immediately. With these corrections, they were able to understand the procedure even better. The students themselves were able to reflect in action, revealing that in any learning situation all parties have to be actively involved in reflecting on and modifying practice (Rubenfeld Scheffer, 2010). In general, the teaching session was a decent experience for me. I discovered that in conveying teaching sessions, the instructor must consider the needs of the understudies and that their individual learning styles must put into consideration. Outcome criteria The outcome criteria are another important process in nursing. In this process, what nurses have been learning and practicing is put into practice. To accomplish the objective of this process, the students demonstrated knowledge of the performance procedures, risks and precautions related to acquisition of critical thinking in nursing by producing a ten-minute reflective paper, earnestly taking part in group discussions , airing their views, coming up with reflective questions and comments, teaming up in the making of an itemized informative agenda on the most proficient method to perform the process and doing a demonstration of the technique. Evaluation of teaching Amid this stage, I measured how well the students had understood the procedure. The key purpose of this stage was to gather information to assess the nursing consideration. The stage is simultaneous or on-going on the grounds that I assessed and settled on a choice amid the usage period by the students of the methodology. One of the key exercises that I carried out at this stage was to measure the attainment of the objective of goal and the modification of the teaching plan because I found out that it did not achieve the objectives (Bradshaw Lowenstein, 2011). To ensure that the evaluation process was successful, I issued the students with post-test sixth week of the teaching session. The post-test comprised a fifteen minute questionnaire where they had to tick in the boxes next to what was useful to them during the session. Moreover, by completing the questionnaire, I was able to see that the teaching session was successful because it met the criteria that all the notes that I had given them were relevant. Moreover, I ascertain that the procedure for acquiring critical thinking was well described and performed satisfactorily. Interviewing was also another criterion that I used to evaluate the teaching session. After interviewing the students, they said that they had gained a vast knowledge in the field of nursing especially in the application of critical thinking. They also said that through the demonstration and presentations in the class, they were able to gain a lot of knowledge that they would apply in their future career. I also picked two students who expressed a high level of performance as well as two who expressed a low level of performance and learning. I asked them to explain to me their views pertaining to the session, and they had different ideas. The high performing students said that the session went smoothly and that the objectives were successfully met. However, the other two students had some complaints. These complaints act as the basis for future recommendation in my teaching sessions. The students complained of inadequacy of time for discussion. This was quite a challenge because some students were not able to hear from each and every member of their group. This triggers me to allocate enough time in my next teaching session to avoid the issue of time constraint. The students also suggested that not all learning materials were available for the session hence recommended that in my next session that I ensure that they are in a capacity to access the internet. They also recommended that to ensure they are in a capacity to meet their learning objectives well they should be taken to a hospital setup where they can observe how the skill is applied. In summation, in my next lecture, I will evaluate of the entire learning session in the form of peer review. Here, I will ensure that the students make comments on each other’s procedure, commending good techniques and highlighting errors or oversights. I will also make appropriate general comments on the students’ performance of the procedure by making any further clarifications. Finally, I will require the students to complete a feedback evaluation of the lesson.

Atrocities Exposed in Amazing Grace :: Amazing Grace Essays

Atrocities Exposed in Amazing Grace  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚      god bless mommy. god bless nanny. god, don't punish me because I'm black. The above is an excerpt of a prayer taken from one of the saddest, most disheartening books I've ever read. Jonathon Kozol based this book on a neighborhood in the South Bronx, called Mott Haven. Mott Haven happens to be not only the poorest district in New York, but possibly in the whole United States. Of the 48,000 living in this broken down, rat-infested neighborhood, two thirds are hispanic, one third is black and thirty-five percent are children. Not only is Mott Haven one of the poorest places, it is also one of the most racially segregated. The book itself is an on-going dialogue between Kozol and the neighborhoods residents, interjected every so often with thoughts from Kozol. He covers a spectrum of topics from AIDS, drug addiction, prostitution, crime, poorly run and funded schools, white flight from schools to over-crowded hospitals and the amazing faith in religion and God that many of these people have. Kozol makes several trips to Mott Haven and speaks with a myriad of people, children and adults alike. For instance, Kozol develops a rapport with a twelve year old hispanic boy named Anthony. Anthony is clever and loves to write stories. Some day he hopes to become a novelist. He also has a great faith in God. He makes some very poignant remarks pertaining to his neighborhood and life in general. For example, one day Kozol and Anthony are discussing if anyone in the neighborhood is truly happy and Kozol pints out that some of the children seem cheerful playing in the school playgrounds. Anthony quickly points out that cheerful and happy are not the same. Then as they are walking, Anthony stops and waves his hand around him in the neighborhood. Then he asks, "Would you be happy if you had to live here?" The only answer can be, NO. Kozol also speaks to many of the church leaders in the different communities of the South Bronx. In particular, he speaks often to Reverend Overall, known as Mother Martha to Anthony and the other children that attend her church. What is most amazing about Rev. Overall is the fact that she gave up a productive career as a lawyer to serve the people in the poorest community in America. Atrocities Exposed in Amazing Grace :: Amazing Grace Essays Atrocities Exposed in Amazing Grace  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚      god bless mommy. god bless nanny. god, don't punish me because I'm black. The above is an excerpt of a prayer taken from one of the saddest, most disheartening books I've ever read. Jonathon Kozol based this book on a neighborhood in the South Bronx, called Mott Haven. Mott Haven happens to be not only the poorest district in New York, but possibly in the whole United States. Of the 48,000 living in this broken down, rat-infested neighborhood, two thirds are hispanic, one third is black and thirty-five percent are children. Not only is Mott Haven one of the poorest places, it is also one of the most racially segregated. The book itself is an on-going dialogue between Kozol and the neighborhoods residents, interjected every so often with thoughts from Kozol. He covers a spectrum of topics from AIDS, drug addiction, prostitution, crime, poorly run and funded schools, white flight from schools to over-crowded hospitals and the amazing faith in religion and God that many of these people have. Kozol makes several trips to Mott Haven and speaks with a myriad of people, children and adults alike. For instance, Kozol develops a rapport with a twelve year old hispanic boy named Anthony. Anthony is clever and loves to write stories. Some day he hopes to become a novelist. He also has a great faith in God. He makes some very poignant remarks pertaining to his neighborhood and life in general. For example, one day Kozol and Anthony are discussing if anyone in the neighborhood is truly happy and Kozol pints out that some of the children seem cheerful playing in the school playgrounds. Anthony quickly points out that cheerful and happy are not the same. Then as they are walking, Anthony stops and waves his hand around him in the neighborhood. Then he asks, "Would you be happy if you had to live here?" The only answer can be, NO. Kozol also speaks to many of the church leaders in the different communities of the South Bronx. In particular, he speaks often to Reverend Overall, known as Mother Martha to Anthony and the other children that attend her church. What is most amazing about Rev. Overall is the fact that she gave up a productive career as a lawyer to serve the people in the poorest community in America.

Richard P. Feynman :: Physics Biography Biographies

Richard P. Feynman Early Life Richard was born on May 11th, 1918 in New York City, the first son of Melville and Lucille Feynman. He enjoyed science and mathematics from a early age, most of which he took it upon himself to learn before it was taught in school. His primary source for self-learning was the Encyclopedia Britannica and a lab that he set up in his room at home. In this lab he dabbled in electronics, whether it was repairing the radio or just making some circuits. In high school, Feynman was ahead in physics and mathematics, already a master of differential equations, trigonometry, and other high levels of calculus, but he was lacking in his other subjects, such as English and history. Feynman applied to many schools, but was turned down either because of his lacking social science grades, or because he was a Jew. Massachusetts Institute of Technology accepted him readily though, as one would expect being a top scientific school even then, and he set out to major in mathematics, though this changed several times. Feynman was not satisified by doing mathematics without an end purpose, and so he eventually ended up in the field of physics, more specifically interested in quantum physics. Richard received his BS from MIT in 1939, four years after entering college, and went on to receive his PhD at Princeton. World War 2 After college is when Feynman really started to shine in his field. In 1942 he was asked to join the team that developed the atomic bomb in Los Alamos and Princeton. At first, he said no to helping to create a weapon of such mass destruction... until he thought about how Hitler probably would have no qualms in making a atom bomb. Richard was key in developing safe means to separate various radioactive materials and also ways to test what amount of uranium would be needed to achieve critical mass that did not require large scale detonations. Major contributions to Physics After World War II, and a brief respite from doing research, Feynman resumed where he had left off before the war with quantum physics. He worked on several projects over the next few decades, achieving successes in most of them. He and another physicist worked together to test and prove their theory on "weak decay," about how it occurs, what are the results of it, etc. His largest gift was his diagrams that describe the way that particles act in a certain system and tells one how to express this movement in mathematics, thus through a simple diagram one could analyze complex atomic interactions.

Psychological Testing Essay

This paper is all about the uses and varieties of personality and projective tests. It aims to determine which tool is more reliable and valid to use in measuring and predicting the behavior of an individual. Furthermore, this paper discusses the uniformity of two different texts used containing the same stance that personality tests exceed the projective terms in terms of convenience to use, reliability, and validity. Personality and Projective Tests Introduction Personality and projective tests are psychological tests used to measure and evaluate the behavior of individuals in the school, community, and even workplace setting. The tests function to determine the difference of personalities among different individuals (examinees) taking the same test. Upon taking the test, interpretation of examinees’ scores would depend on their respective test results. However, in this paper, researchers of different psychological tests suggest that personality tests are more reliable and valid compared to projective tests. Personality and Projective Tests Albert Hood & Richard Johnson (2008), a member of the American Counseling Association, collaborated to come up with Assessment in Counseling (2008), a book which discusses the different types of personality and projective tests. In the text, samples of personality tests include the following: the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory/MMPI2, Jackson’s Personality Research Form (PRF), Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), California Psychological Inventory (CPI), and the NEO Personality Inventory-Revised (NEO PI-R). Further, CPI scale where 16 PF is adapted is recommended to be used for marriage and career counseling, job performance appraisals, and evaluation of management skills in the workplace. On the other hand, the different projective tests include the following: the Rorschach Ink Blot Test, Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), House-Tree-Person (HTP), Roter Incomplete Sentences Blank, and Early Recollection. However, the Rorschach Inkblot Test was found to be the most commonly used projective technique to make inference of an individual’s behavior. In addition, Anne Anastasi (Dept. of Psychology in Fodrham University) and Susana Urbina (Dept. of Psychology in University of Florida) (2002), in their book Psychological Testing, suggest that personality tests are far better to use than projective tests since the latter is more complicated to execute and is more prone to erroneous interpretation regardless of the examiner’s years of experience in handling the test. Scope of the Literature Problem and Significance of the Problem The significance of the problem is to answer the question: â€Å"Which is a better tool to predict the behavior of an individual, is it the personality or the projective tests? † Research problem(s) Explored in the Study The two articles reviewed focus on the problem whether personality tests, observation, and inventories are more reliable, predictive tool in measuring the behavior of an individual rather than the projective tests. Hypothesis in the study Hypothesis of this study suggests that using personality inventories or psychological tests are better than using projective tests to assess a person’s behavior. Research Design and Methodology Research design to be used is descriptive correlational. The approach or tool to be used is the Pearson (r) correlation to determine the relationship between the two variables. Conclusion Psychological tests are tools to measure and predict the behavior of an individual. Depending on its purpose, personality tests and projective tests aim to assess personalities in different settings such as school, workplace, and community. In school, the tests serve the college students’ need to be counseled for the career that suits their personality; at work, the tests are used to evaluate which candidate is more fit for the job; and in the community, the tests determine who are mentally healthy and who are not for providing welfare. References Anastasi, A. & Urbina S. (2002). Psychological Testing. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc. Hood, A. B. & Johnson R. (2008). Assessment in Counseling: A Guide to Psychological Assessment Procedures. Stevenson Avenue, Alexandria: American Counseling Association.

Foundation and Empire 11. Bride And Groom

THE MULE Less is known of â€Å"The Mule† than of any character of comparable significance to Galactic history. Even the period of his greatest renown is known to us chiefly through the eyes of his antagonists and, principally, through those of a young bride†¦ Encyclopedia Galactica Bayta's first sight of Haven was entirely the contrary of spectacular. Her husband pointed it out – a dull star lost in the emptiness of the Galaxy's edge. It was past the last sparse clusters, to where straggling points of light gleamed lonely. And even among these it was poor and inconspicuous. Toran was quite aware that as the earliest prelude to married life, the Red Dwarf lacked impressiveness and his lips curled self-consciously. â€Å"I know, Bay – It isn't exactly a proper change, is it? I mean from the Foundation to this.† â€Å"A horrible change, Toran. I should never have married you.† And when his face looked momentarily hurt, before he caught himself, she said with her special â€Å"cozy† tone, â€Å"All right, silly. Now let your lower lip droop and give me that special dying-duck look – the one just before you're supposed to bury your head on my shoulder, while I stroke your hair full of static electricity. You were fishing for some drivel, weren't you? You were expecting me to say ‘I'd be happy anywhere with you, Toran!' or ‘The interstellar depths themselves would be home, my sweet, were you but with me!' Now you admit it.† She pointed a finger at him and snatched it away an instant before his teeth closed upon it. He said, â€Å"If I surrender, and admit you're right, will you prepare dinner?† She nodded contentedly. He smiled, and just looked at her. She wasn't beautiful on the grand scale to others – he admitted that – even if everybody did look twice. Her hair was dark and glossy, though straight, her mouth a bit wide – but her meticulous, close-textured eyebrows separated a white, unlined forehead from the warmest mahogany eyes ever filled with smiles. And behind a very sturdily-built and staunchly-defended facade of practical, unromantic, hard-headedness towards life, there was just that little pool of softness that would never show if you poked for it, but could be reached if you knew just how – and never let on that you were looking for it. Toran adjusted the controls unnecessarily and decided to relax. He was one interstellar jump, and then several milli-microparsecs â€Å"on the straight† before manipulation by hand was necessary. He leaned over backwards to look into the storeroom, where Bayta was juggling appropriate containers. There was quite a bit of smugness about his attitude towards Bayta – the satisfied awe that marks the triumph of someone who has been hovering at the edge of an inferiority complex for three years. After all he was a provincial – and not merely a provincial, but the son of a renegade Trader. And she was of the Foundation itself – and not merely that, but she could trace her ancestry back to Mallow. And with all that, a tiny quiver underneath. To take her back to Haven, with its rock-world and cave-cities was bad enough. To have her face the traditional hostility of Trader for Foundation – nomad for city dweller – was worse. Still – After supper, the last jump! Haven was an angry crimson blaze, and the second planet was a ruddy patch of light with atmosphere-blurred rim and a half-sphere of darkness. Bayta leaned over the large view table with its spidering of crisscross lines that centered Haven II neatly. She said gravely, â€Å"I wish I had met your father first. If he takes a dislike to me-â€Å" â€Å"Then,† said Toran matter-of-factly, â€Å"you would be the first pretty girl to inspire that in him. Before he lost his arm and stopped roving around the Galaxy, he – Well, if you ask him about it, he'll talk to you about it till your ears wear down to a nubbin. After a while I got to thinking that he was embroidering; because he never told the same story twice the same way-â€Å" Haven II was rushing up at them now. The landlocked sea wheeled ponderously below them, slate-gray in the lowering dimness and lost to sight, here and there, among the wispy clouds. Mountains jutted raggedly along the coast. The sea became wrinkled with nearness and, as it veered off past the horizon just at the end, there was one vanishing glimpse of shore-hugging ice fields. Toran grunted under the fierce deceleration, â€Å"Is your suit locked?† Bayta's plump face was round and ruddy in the incasing sponge-foam of the internally-heated, skin-clinging costume. The ship lowered crunchingly on the open field just short of the lifting of the plateau. They climbed out awkwardly into the solid darkness of the outer-galactic night, and Bayta gasped as the sudden cold bit, and the thin wind swirled emptily. Toran seized her elbow and nudged her into an awkward run over the smooth, packed ground towards the sparking of artificial light in the distance. The advancing guards met them halfway, and after a whispered exchange of words, they were taken onward. The wind and the cold disappeared when the gate of rock opened and then closed behind them. The warm interior, white with wall-light, was filled with an incongruous humming bustle. Men looked up from their desks, and Toran produced documents. They were waved onward after a short glance and Toran whispered to his wife, â€Å"Dad must have fixed up the preliminaries. The usual lapse here is about five hours.† They burst into the open and Bayta said suddenly, â€Å"Oh, my-â€Å" The cave city was in daylight – the white daylight of a young sun. Not that there was a sun, of course. What should have been the sky was lost in the unfocused glow of an over-all brilliance. And the warm air was properly thick and fragrant with greenery. Bayta said, â€Å"Why, Toran, it's beautiful.† Toran grinned with anxious delight. â€Å"Well, now, Bay, it isn't like anything on the Foundation, of course, but it's the biggest city on Haven II – twenty thousand people, you know – and you'll get to like it. No amusement palaces, I'm afraid, but no secret police either.† â€Å"Oh, Torie, it's just like a toy city. It's all white and pink – and so clean.† â€Å"Well-† Toran looked at the city with her. The houses were two stories high for the most part, and of the smooth vein rock indigenous to the region. The spires of the Foundation were missing, and the colossal community houses of the Old Kingdoms – but the smallness was there and the individuality; a relic of personal initiative in a Galaxy of mass life. He snapped to sudden attention. â€Å"Bay – There's Dad! Right there – where I'm pointing, silly. Don't you see him?† She did. It was just the impression of a large man, waving frantically, fingers spread wide as though groping wildly in air. The deep thunder of a drawn-out shout reached them. Bayta trailed her husband, rushing downwards over the close-cropped lawn. She caught sight of a smaller man, white-haired, almost lost to view behind the robust One-arm, who still waved and still shouted. Toran cried over his shoulder, â€Å"It's my father's half-brother. The one who's been to the Foundation. You know.† They met in the grass, laughing and incoherent, and Toran's father let out a final whoop for sheer joy. He hitched at his short jacket and adjusted the metal-chased belt that was his one concession to luxury. His eyes shifted from one of the youngsters to the other, and then he said, a little out of breath, â€Å"You picked a rotten day to return home, boy!† â€Å"What? Oh, it is Seldon's birthday, isn't it?† â€Å"It is. I had to rent a car to make the trip here, and dragoon Randu to drive it. Not a public vehicle to be had at gun's point.† His eyes were on Bayta now, and didn't leave. He spoke to her more softly, â€Å"I have the crystal of you right here – and it's good, but I can see the fellow who took it was an amateur.† He had the small cube of transparency out of his jacket pocket and in the light the laughing little face within sprang to vivid colored life as a miniature Bayta. â€Å"That one!† said Bayta. â€Å"Now I wonder why Toran should send that caricature. I'm surprised you let me come near you, sir.† â€Å"Are you now? Call me Fran. I'll have none of this fancy mess. For that, I think you can take my arm, and we'll go on to the car. Till now I never did think my boy knew what he was ever up to. I think I'll change that opinion. I think I'll have to change that opinion.† Toran said to his half uncle softly, â€Å"How is the old man these days? Does he still hound the women?† Randu puckered up all over his face when he smiled. â€Å"When he can, Toran, when he can. There are times when he remembers that his next birthday will be his sixtieth, and that disheartens him. But he shouts it down, this evil thought, and then he is himself. He is a Trader of the ancient type. But you, Toran. Where did you find such a pretty wife?† The young man chuckled and linked arms. â€Å"Do you want a three years' history at a gasp, uncle?† It was in the small living room of the home that Bayta struggled out of her traveling cloak and hood and shook her hair loose. She sat down, crossing her knees, and returned the appreciative stare of this large, ruddy man. She said, â€Å"I know what you're trying to estimate, and I'll help you; Age, twenty-four, height, five-four, weight, one-ten, educational specialty, history.† She noticed that he always crooked his stand so as to hide the missing arm. But now Fran leaned close and said, â€Å"Since you mention it – weight, one-twenty.† He laughed loudly at her flush. Then he said to the company in general, â€Å"You can always tell a woman's weight by her upper arm – with due experience, of course. Do you want a drink, Bay?† â€Å"Among other things,† she said, and they left together, while Toran busied himself at the book shelves to check for new additions. Fran returned alone and said, â€Å"She'll be down later.† He lowered himself heavily into the large comer chair and placed his stiff-jointed left leg on the stool before it. The laughter had left his red face, and Toran turned to face him. Fran said, â€Å"Well, you're home, boy, and I'm glad you are. I like your woman. She's no whining ninny.† â€Å"I married her,† said Toran simply. â€Å"Well, that's another thing altogether, boy.† His eyes darkened. â€Å"It's a foolish way to tie up the future. In my longer life, and more experienced, I never did such a thing.† Randu interrupted from the comer where he stood quietly. â€Å"Now Franssart, what comparisons are you making? Till your crash landing six years ago you were never in one spot long enough to establish residence requirements for marriage, And since then, who would have you?† The one-armed man jerked erect in his seat and replied hotly, â€Å"Many, you snowy dotard-â€Å" Toran said with hasty tact, â€Å"It's largely a legal formality, Dad. The situation has its conveniences.† â€Å"Mostly for the woman,† grumbled Fran. â€Å"And even if so,† agreed Randu, â€Å"it's up to the boy to decide. Marriage is an old custom among the Foundationers.† â€Å"The Foundationers are not fit models for an honest Trader,† smoldered Fran. Toran broke in again, â€Å"My wife is a Foundationer.† He looked from one to the other, and then said quietly, â€Å"She's coming.† The conversation took a general turn after the evening meal, which Fran had spiced with three tales of reminiscence composed of equal parts of blood, women, profits, and embroidery. The small televisor was on, and some classic drama was playing itself out in an unregarded whisper. Randu had hitched himself into a more comfortable position on the low couch and gazed past the slow smoke of his long pipe to where Bayta had knelt down upon the softness of the white fur mat brought back once long ago from a trade mission and now spread out only upon the most ceremonious occasions. â€Å"You have studied history, my girl?† he asked, pleasantly. Bayta nodded. â€Å"I was the despair of my teachers, but I learned a bit, eventually.† â€Å"A citation for scholarship,† put in Toran, smugly, â€Å"that's all!† â€Å"And what did you learn?† proceeded Randu, smoothly. â€Å"Everything? Now?† laughed the girl. The old man smiled gently. â€Å"Well then, what do you think of the Galactic situation?† â€Å"I think,† said Bayta, concisely, â€Å"that a Seldon crisis is pending – and that if it isn't then away with the Seldon plan altogether. It is a failure.† (â€Å"Whew,† muttered Fran, from his comer. â€Å"What a way to speak of Seldon.† But he said nothing aloud.) Randu sucked at his pipe speculatively. â€Å"Indeed? Why do you say that? I was to the Foundation, you know, in my younger days, and I, too, once thought great dramatic thoughts. But, now, why do you say that?† â€Å"Well,† Bayta's eyes misted with thought as she curled her bare toes into the white softness of the rug and nestled her little chin in one plump hand, â€Å"it seems to me that the whole essence of Seldon's plan was to create a world better than the ancient one of the Galactic Empire. It was failing apart, that world, three centuries ago, when Seldon first established the Foundation – and if history speaks truly, it was falling apart of the triple disease of inertia, despotism, and maldistribution of the goods of the universe.† Randu nodded slowly, while Toran gazed with proud, luminous eyes at his wife, and Fran in the comer clucked his tongue and carefully refilled his glass. Bayta said, â€Å"If the story of Seldon is true, he foresaw the complete collapse of the Empire through his Jaws of psychohistory, and was able to predict the necessary thirty thousand years of barbarism before the establishment of a new Second Empire to restore civilization and culture to humanity. It was the whole aim of his life-work to set up such conditions as would insure a speedier rejuvenation,† The deep voice of Fran burst out, â€Å"And that's why he established the two Foundations, honor be to his name.† â€Å"And that's why he established the two Foundations,† assented Bayta. â€Å"Our Foundation was a gathering of the scientists of the dying Empire intended to carry on the science and learning of man to new heights. And the Foundation was so situated in space and the historical environment was such that through the careful calculations of his genius, Seldon foresaw that in one thousand years, it would become a newer, greater Empire.† There was a reverent silence. The girl said softly, â€Å"It's an old story. You all know it. For almost three centuries every human being of the Foundation has known it. But I thought it would be appropriate to go through it – just quickly. Today is Seldon's birthday, you know, and even if I am of the Foundation, and you are of Haven, we have that in common-â€Å" She lit a cigarette slowly, and watched the glowing tip absently. â€Å"The laws of history are as absolute as the laws of physics, and if the probabilities of error are greater, it is only because history does not deal with as many humans as physics does atoms, so that individual variations count for more. Seldon predicted a series of crises through the thousand years of growth, each of which would force a new turning of our history into a pre-calculated path. It is those crises which direct us – and therefore a crisis must come now. â€Å"Now!† she repeated, forcefully. â€Å"It's almost a century since the last one, and in that century, every vice of the Empire has been repeated in the Foundation. Inertia! Our ruling class knows one law; no change. Despotism! They know one rule; force. Maldistribution! They know one desire; to hold what is theirs.† â€Å"While others starve!† roared Fran suddenly with a mighty blow of his fist upon the arm of his chair. â€Å"Girl, your words are pearls. The fat guts on their moneybags ruin the Foundation, while the brave Traders hide their poverty on dregs of worlds like Haven. It's a disgrace to Seldon, a casting of dirt in his face, a spewing in his beard.† He raised his arm high, and then his face lengthened. â€Å"If I had my other arm! If – once – they had listened to me!† â€Å"Dad,† said Toran, â€Å"take it easy.† â€Å"Take it easy. Take it easy,† his father mimicked savagely. â€Å"We'll live here and die here forever – and you say, take it easy.† â€Å"That's our modern Lathan Devers,† said Randu, gesturing with his pipe, â€Å"this Fran of ours. Devers died in the slave mines eighty years ago with your husband's great-grandfather, because he lacked wisdom and didn't lack heart-â€Å" â€Å"Yes, by the Galaxy, I'd do the same if I were he,† swore Fran. â€Å"Devers was the greatest Trader in history – greater than the overblown windbag, Mallow, the Foundationers worship. If the cutthroats who lord the Foundation killed him because he loved justice, the greater the blood-debt owed them.† â€Å"Go on, girl,† said Randu. â€Å"Go on, or, surely, he'll talk a the night and rave all the next day.† â€Å"There's nothing to go on about,† she said, with a sudden gloom. â€Å"There must be a crisis, but I don't know how to make one. The progressive forces on the Foundation are oppressed fearfully. You Traders may have the will, but you are hunted and disunited. If all the forces of good will in and out of the Foundation could combine-â€Å" Fran's laugh was a raucous jeer. â€Å"Listen to her, Randu, listen to her. In and out of the Foundation, she says. Girl, girl, there's no hope in the flab-sides of the Foundation. Among them some hold the whip and the rest are whipped dead whipped. Not enough spunk left in the whole rotten world to outface one good Trader.† Bayta's attempted interruptions broke feebly against the overwhelming wind. Toran leaned over and put a hand over her mouth. â€Å"Dad,† he said, coldly, â€Å"you've never been on the Foundation. You know nothing about it. I tell you that the underground there is brave and daring enough. I could tell you that Bayta was one of them-â€Å" â€Å"All right, boy, no offense. Now, where's the cause for anger?† He was genuinely perturbed. Toran drove on fervently, â€Å"The trouble with you, Dad, is that you've got a provincial outlook. You think because some hundred thousand Traders scurry into holes on an unwanted planet at the end of nowhere, that they're a great people. Of course, any tax collector from the Foundation that gets here never leaves again, but that's cheap heroism. What would you do if the Foundation sent a fleet?† â€Å"We'd blast them,† said Fran, sharply. â€Å"And get blasted – with the balance in their favor. You're outnumbered, outarmed, outorganized – and as soon as the Foundation thinks it worth its while, you'll realize that. So you had better seek your allies – on the Foundation itself, if you can.† â€Å"Randu, said Fran, looking at his brother like a great, helpless bull. Randu took his pipe away from his lips, â€Å"The boy's right, Fran. When you listen to the little thoughts deep inside you, you know he is. But they're uncomfortable thoughts, so you drown them out with that roar of yours. But they're still there. Toran, I'll tell you why I brought all this up.† He puffed thoughtfully awhile, then dipped his pipe into the neck of the tray, waited for the silent flash, and withdrew it clean. Slowly, he filled it again with precise tamps of his little finger. He said, â€Å"Your little suggestion of Foundation's interest in us, Toran, is to the point. There have been two recent visits lately – for tax purposes. The disturbing point is that the second visitor was accompanied by a light patrol ship. They landed in Gleiar City – giving us the miss for a change – and they never lifted off again, naturally. But now they'll surely be back. Your father is aware of all this, Toran, he really is. â€Å"Look at the stubborn rakehell. He knows Haven is in trouble, and he knows we're helpless, but he repeats his formulas. It warms and protects him. But once he's had his say, and roared his defiance, and feels he's discharged his duty as a man and a Bull Trader, why he's as reasonable as any of us.† â€Å"Any of who?† asked Bayta. He smiled at her. â€Å"We've formed a little group, Bayta – just in our city. We haven't done anything, yet. We haven't even managed to contact the other cities yet, but it's a start.† â€Å"But towards what?† Randu shook his head. â€Å"We don't know-yet. We hope for a miracle. We have decided that, as you say, a Seldon crisis must be at hand.† He gestured widely upwards. â€Å"The Galaxy is full of the chips and splinters of the broken Empire. The generals swarm. Do you suppose the time may come when one will grow bold?† Bayta considered, and shook her head decisively, so that the long straight hair with the single inward curl at the end swirled about her ears. â€Å"No, not a chance. There's not one of those generals who doesn't know that an attack on the Foundation is suicide. Bel Riose of the old Empire was a better man than any of them, and he attacked with the resources of a galaxy, and couldn't win against the Seldon Plan. Is there one general that doesn't know that?† â€Å"But what if we spur them on?† â€Å"Into where? Into an atomic furnace? With what could you possibly spur them?† â€Å"Well, there is one – a new one. In this past year or two, there has come word of a strange man whom they call the Mule.† â€Å"The Mule?† She considered. â€Å"Ever hear of him, Torie?† Toran shook his head. She said, â€Å"What about him?† â€Å"I don't know. But he wins victories at, they say, impossible odds. The rumors may be exaggerated, but it would be interesting, in any case, to become acquainted with him. Not every man with sufficient ability and sufficient ambition would believe in Hari Seldon and his laws of psychohistory. We could encourage that disbelief. He might attack.† â€Å"And the Foundation would win.† â€Å"Yes – but not necessarily easily. It might be a crisis, and we could take advantage of such a crisis to force a compromise with the despots of the Foundation. At the worst, they would forget us long enough to enable us to plan farther.† â€Å"What do you think, Torie?† Toran smiled feebly and pulled at a loose brown curl that fell over one eye. â€Å"The way he describes it, it can't hurt; but who is the Mule? What do you know of him, Randu?† â€Å"Nothing yet. For that, we could use you, Toran. And your wife, if she's willing. We've talked of this, your father and I. We've talked of this thoroughly.† â€Å"In what way, Randu? What do you want of us?† The young man cast a quick inquisitive look at his wife. â€Å"Have you had a honeymoon?† â€Å"Well†¦ yes†¦ if you can call the trip from the Foundation a honeymoon.† â€Å"How about a better one on Kalgan? It's semitropical beaches – water sports – bird hunting – quite the vacation spot. It's about seven thousand parsecs in-not too far.† â€Å"What's on Kalgan?† â€Å"The Mule! His men, at least. He took it last month, and without a battle, though Kalgan's warlord broadcast a threat to blow the planet to ionic dust before giving it up.† â€Å"Where's the warlord now?† â€Å"He isn't,† said Randu, with a shrug. â€Å"What do you say?† â€Å"But what are we to do?† â€Å"I don't know. Fran and I are old; we're provincial. The Traders of Haven are all essentially provincial. Even you say so. Our trading is of a very restricted sort, and we're not the Galaxy roamers our ancestors were, Shut up, Fran! But you two know the Galaxy. Bayta, especially, speaks with a nice Foundation accent. We merely wish whatever you can find out. If you can make contact†¦ but we wouldn't expect that. Suppose you two think it over. You can meet our entire group if you wish†¦ oh, not before next week. You ought to have some time to catch your breath.† There was a pause and then Fran roared, â€Å"Who wants; another drink? I mean, besides me?†

A World Lit Only by Fire: the Medieval Mind and the Renaissance

In the first section of William Manchester’s A World Lit Only By Fire, we are taken into a world that is vastly different from our own, and we see a kind of attitude which is rarely seen today. Manchester stresses the fact that the peasants in the Dark Ages had no knowledge of what was happening in the rest of the world. In our age of twenty-four-hour news networks and instantaneous access to information from across the globe through the internet, it is hard to fathom that if we were still living in the Dark Ages most of us would be completely oblivious to the activities of the rest of the world outside of our small village.Manchester also points out that the common people in the Dark Ages had no conception of time. Most would not have known what century it was, let alone the specific date. For most peasants, time passed in a cycle of seasons, and they only needed to know the days of the week in order to know when it was the Sabbath. This is in stark contrast to the life of a modern man. We can know time down to the second. And we need to know time with greater precision. While the peasants of the Dark Ages needed only to recognize the passing of the seasons and when the Sabbath was, modern man often needs to know the time of day precisely.We are constantly on a schedule. School and work starts at a certain time, and we must be there on time. Another fascinating difference which Manchester points out is the fact that most of the peasants did not have surnames and were either referred to by their first name alone, or by a nickname. I found this very strange. Manchester does a good job of showing the differences between the modern mind and the medieval mind. Being aware of these differences allows the reader to appreciate the huge impact that the Renaissance had on Europe.Now in the next section of A World Lit Only by Fire, entitled â€Å"The Shattering,† Manchester shows us several events that â€Å"shattered† beliefs during the Renaissance. Most of these had something to do with the Church at the time because religion was one of the most important parts of Medieval and Renaissance life. The first event that shattered beliefs and changed life did not immediately cause a revolution but had a long-lasting impact on the future of Christianity. That event was the dissemination of the works of Erasmus.With his constant criticism of the Church and his calls for papal reform, he proved that one could criticize the church without being a radical revolutionary, for Erasmus was a devout Catholic. Before Erasmus, few had dared to criticize the Roman Church and those who did were not taken seriously. However, with his satires, Erasmus appealed to all classes of people and gave the people the encouragement to call for reform and criticize the Church. This may have influenced Martin Luther, even though he disliked Erasmus’ work, to nail his 95 Theses to the Castle Church door at Wittenberg.The fact that Erasmus was widely pop ular also contributed to the change in the thinking that anyone who criticized the church would be damned to hell. Even though Erasmus didn’t do anything as revolutionary as Martin Luther, his brilliant satires were able to change the mindset of Europeans and may have enabled, against his own wishes, the Protestant Reformation. The next event discussed by Manchester is the Reformation itself. Sparked by Martin Luther’s outrage at the sale of indulgences, this is the event that split Christianity in half.Those loyal to the existing Christian Church headed by the Pope became known as Roman Catholics, and those who were not loyal to that Church formed different Protestant Churches. Before the Reformation there was one authoritative representative of the word of God; i. e. , the Pope. Most Christian literature was in Latin, but since Latin was essentially a dead language, most people could not read or understand it, and this helped the Church maintain control of Christians of the age. Within this system, freedom of religious thought was extremely limited.Saying anything that contradicted the pope could get you labeled as a heretic and sentenced to jail, or even death. After the Reformation, several different Churches formed and as they formed, they warred with each other. The pope was no longer the supreme head of Christianity as he had been before the Reformation. Bibles where published in living languages. All kinds of opinions were published in pamphlets. One undesirable consequence of the Reformation was the different sects fighting with each other.Each different sect believed it represented the one true religion. Fighting between sects became common. Fighting between Catholics and Protestants was rife. Protestants burned Roman Catholic churches, smashing mosaics and statues, and even killing innocent women and clergy. The Roman Church started its notorious Inquisition, which was especially violent in Spain. Before the Reformation there was only one Christian Church so religious violence in Europe was rare, but after the Reformation religious violence and persecution became commonplace.The Reformation was a major turning point in the history of Christianity. Without it, America today would be a different country, since many settlers in early America came to escape religious persecution. Manchester’s section on the Reformation is therefore perhaps the most important section in the book. In the last section of A World Lit Only by Fire, entitled â€Å"One Man Alone,† Manchester writes about Ferdinand Magellan and his circumnavigation of the globe.In this section, Manchester takes time to go into extremely fine detail about Magellan’s voyage in order to explain what type of man Magellan was, and, more importantly, to show how big the odds were against his actually finishing his voyage. Manchester seems to idolize Magellan, in part because Magellan wasn’t seeking fame or wealth, but instead simply had a dream and was determined to make it a reality, something that I think most people can respect.

History Of Snowdonia Essays

History Of Snowdonia Essays History Of Snowdonia Essay History Of Snowdonia Essay Essay Topic: History Saint Joan The Glass Castle Winters Bone The Celts had settled across much of Britain by 500 BC and gradually divided into tribes, including the Ordivices in parts of northern Wales.One of the earliest settlements discovered in Snowdonia is Trer Ceiri dating from around 200 BC, where a village of 150 stone huts with turf roofs was encircled by stone walls. The Romans moved into northern Wales after their invasion in AD 43, but were resisted in the Ordivices territory around Anglesey and Caernarfon by warriors under Caratacus (or Caradog). In AD 51, Caratacus was defeated, encouraging the Romans to strike deeper into remote northwestern Wales in AD 57 and AD 60. The Romans directed their second campaign against the isle of Angelsey in the far northwest, a spiritual Celtic stronghold led by druids. After AD 70 the Romans built forts in captured territories, but the Welsh tribes continued to effectively resist using guerilla tactics. The Roman fort at Segontium (present day Caernarfon), a significant garrison at the limit of the Roman Empire, was built for 1000 men. It was occupied for around 300 years from AD 77, during which time northwest Wales remained a thorn in the Roman side. With the decline of Roman power after AD 390, the Scotti people (from todays Ireland) took the opportunity to invade the home of the Picts (todays Wales and Scotland). In response to the invasion, people from Gododdin (in Scotland) came to northwest Wales. Their initial plan was to drive out the invaders, but they stayed and settled in the area, which became the kingdom of Gwynedd. (The modern county, including Snowdonia, still proudly bears this name.)The struggle between Welsh settlers and Irish raiders along the coast carried on for the rest of the Dark Ages. During this time, Christian missionaries and settlers arrived from Ireland throughout the 6th and 7th centuries. While these newcomers arrived from the west, the people of Wales were also under pressure to the east constantly harassed by the Anglo-Saxons of England over hundreds of years.Building on the unity forced upon them by Anglo-Saxon oppression, in the 9th and 10th centuries the small kingdoms of Wales began cooperating to repel the Vikings. King Rhodri Mawr (who died in AD 878) defeated a Viking force off Anglesey, and his grandson Hywel the Good was responsible for drawing up a set of laws, helping to unify the disparate Welsh tribes. One of Wales most prominent historical figures, Gruffydd ap Llewelyn, wrested control of Gwynedd in 1039 and by 1057 ruled all of Wales. Attempting to extend Welsh territory he successfully attacked Hereford, sparking a response by a force led by Harold, Earl of Wessex. In August 1063, the English caught and killed Gruffydd in Snowdonia. By the time the Normans arrived, the Welsh had returned to their independent ways. To secure his new kingdom, and keep the Welsh in theirs, William the Conqueror built castles in the lowlands. But the Welsh continued to launch attacks from their highlands strongholds. The battle for control of Wales continued for the next two centuries until the ascension of Edward I. During his 56-year reign, beginning in 1272, Edward a skilled ruler and ambitious general led a ruthless invasion of Wales that lasted much of the 1270s. Edward spent a great deal of money stamping his authority on the restive areas of northwestern Wales, building imposing castles at Caernarfon, Harlech, Conwy and Beaumaris. Caernarfon Castle was the most impressive of the Iron Ring of fortresses. Built between 1283 and 1301, the castle was designed as a seat of government and a royal palace. In the end, Wales became a dependent principality owing allegiance to England. There were no more Welsh kings, and Edward made his son prince of Wales. Ever since, the British sovereigns eldest son has been automatically given the title. Modern History With the advent of the Industrial Revolution, Snowdonia became the centre of the slate-mining industry which sustained North Wales during the 19th century. The town of Blaenau Ffestiniog was responsible for roofing much of England, but the downside of mining still in evidence today are slag heaps. For every ton of usable slate extracted, nine tons of rubble were created. Mountain railways were constructed between 1832 and 1836 to haul slate down from the mines of Blaenau Ffestiniog to the port at Porthmadog, which grew around the 19th-century harbour built by William Alexander Madocks. The wool industry also became important in the valleys. Set amid hills, Dolgellau is a true Welsh market town that owes much of its handsome, if unornamented, looks to the wealth generated by the wool industry in the 19th century. It has over 200 listed buildings, the highest concentration in Wales. In 1911, in a bid to involve the British crown more closely with his own constituency, prime minister and Welshman David Lloyd George incurred the ire of local people when he transferred the investiture ceremony for the heir to the British throne the Prince of Wales to Caernarfon Castle. But Caernarfon is a Welsh nationalist heartland, and in 1969 exactly 600 years after Edward I made his son the first prince of Wales and installed him in the castle there was an attempt to blow up a train carrying the current prince of Wales to his investiture. Recent History While mining continues today to a minor degree, North Wales rich history and natural attractions have provided a new focus for the area in recent years. Snowdonia National Park was designated a protected landscape in 1951, and in 1986 Edward Is castles and town walls at Caernarfon, Conwy, Harlech and Beaumaris were given World Heritage listing. Several mines have been reinvented as visitor attractions, along with vintage railways like the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland lines, which once hauled the booty down to the sea. The areas high rainfall (pack your waterproof, or buy one here!) has been cannily exploited by hydroelectric power stations, and Electric Mountain at Llanberis is one massive underground scheme you can see for yourself. The long-time heartland of nationalism, North Wales is leading a prolonged campaign for the survival of Welsh language, music and literary culture. When you hear Welsh spoken in the trendiest bar on the Llyn Peninsula, you know it is here to stay. Tribes of Celtic Wales From the round tower of Dolbadarn Castle, 700 years ago, Dafydd, Prince of Wales, looked out at the besieging camp-fires of an invading army. Today, the ghosts of the Welsh Princes, from their ruined strongholds, watch over friendly tourists who are attracted to the corner of Wales around Mount Snowdon that we call Snowdonia a countryside of high mountains and deep valleys, of rushing streams, sunlit waterfalls and driving, drenching rain. For its the climate of Wales which has helped to mould the rocks of Snowdonia into the beautiful and rugged landscape of the present day. Imagine North Wales 540 million years ago. The climate was very warm because Wales lay near to where South Africa is today. It was part of a large land-mass and attached, not only to England, but to southern Ireland and northern Europe as well. You may not have needed an umbrella to live here but youd still get wet. A deep ocean separated the Welsh continent from another one, consisting of Scotland, northern Ireland and North America. Periodically, seas flooded the land, depositing thick layers of sands and muds. Over time, thousands of feet of sediment built up and was consolidated by pressure into sandstone and mudstone rocks. Into the mudstones, volcanoes of a later age injected veins of copper and gold. Some of the mudstone was metamorphosed into the slate which outcrops around Bethesda and Llanberis. After the tides of fifty million years washed over the land the two continents began to move towards each other. In their battle for dominance submarine volcanoes and volcanic islands were thrown up into the narrowing ocean. Many of Snowdonias highest mountains are made of rocks from this explosive age but none were ever volcanoes themselves the summit of Snowdon is a mixture of muds and volcanic dust originally laid down on the sea-floor then later uplifted. Nearby, cooled ash sheets and lava flows formed the rock-face of Lliwedd, and volcanic magma lined the cliffs of Crib-y- Ddysgl and Crib Goch. Many years passed, and the ocean disappeared as the two continents collided. The resulting stresses crumpled the earth for miles, buckling lavas at Cwm Idwal and arching the sandstones of Harlech. The earth moved (up, down, even sideways), chipping out the valleys of Bala and Tal-y-llyn. Lazily, Wales drifted northwards, passed over the Equator and became part of one immense continent (called Pangaea). Eventually, Pangaea broke up and left a Britain still joined to Europe. Five million years before the present Britain gently tipped up, dipping England into the sea and raising the rocks of Wales. Rivers cut deeply into these highland plains, carving out v-shaped valleys. The Ice Ages came and went over 2 million years. Neanderthal Man walked into Britain with the warmer weather and walked out again in colder times. Glaciers spilled over the cwms of Nant Ffrancon and the Glyders and flowed away down the valleys. 8,000 years BC and it became much warmer. The ice melted and sea-levels rose, cutting off Britain from Europe and widening into a sea the narrow strait between Wales and Ireland. Behind it, the ice left a trail of memories: erratic rocks perched dangerously on top of one another and broad, deep, u-shaped valleys. Rain fell, and lakes formed in these valleys and cwms. Some are deep its 190 feet to the bottom of Llyn Llydaw. On the mountainsides Stone Age man hunted deer, ox and wild boar through a thick canopy of trees. By 4,000 BC the first farmers arrived from Europe, bringing with them livestock and grain. The New Stone Age men cleared the forests in order to graze their animals and grow crops. These people made tools out of stone or bone, and they built cromlechs, like the one at Capel Garmon, in which to bury their dead. On the coast, at Penmaenmawr, they established a centre for making stone axes and traded their goods through-out Britain. Two thousand years later, the community at Penmaenmawr used bronze knives to sacrifice its children. The bodies were cremated and their ashes placed in urns, which were then buried beneath the standing stones of the Druids Circle. Druids themselves didnt actually enter the magic circle until 600 BC when the influence of the Celts from Europe was paramount. These highly cultured people introduced to Britain the Brythonic language, together with a love of music, spoken poetry and storytelling (very little was written down) and a love of battle. In the uplands the raven, shape-shifter and goddess of battle, soured over the hill-top forts in which these tribes lived in times of war. At Pen-y-Gaer the hillfort dominated the river Conwy below. The men dug in rows of small, jagged stones to upend enemy horse-riders. The Celts knew how to make strong weapons and chariots out of iron, as well as beautiful objects from bronze, silver and gold. Sometimes these articles were cast into lakes as offerings to the water-spirits. For the Celts, all natural phenomena from stones and lakes to trees and birds were sources of divine power. Dressed in white robes and armed with yew wands, their religious leaders (the druids) conducted human sacrifices in sacred oak groves. In the first century AD, against an invading Roman army, the druids inspired resistance throughout Wales. However, in AD 61 the druids were forced to retreat to their island stronghold of Anglesey. Backed by a host of armed warriors and wild-haired, dark-robed women who carried fire-brands, the druids raised their arms and cursed the immaculate soldiers facing them across the Menai Strait. Eventually, the awe-struck legionaries dared to cross over the water. And its then that the charismatic druids disappeared from our history together with men, women and children they were burnt alive, wrapped in their own torch-flames. For three centuries the Romans remained in control. Nine hundred feet above sea-level, near Trawsfynydd, 500 auxiliaries lived in the fort of Tomen-y-Mur. The Romans relaxed in a heated bath-house and sat around a small amphitheatre, cheering on fighting cockerels. Roman roads averaged one days march (thats 19 miles) between each fort. The road which ran from Tomen-y-Mur we call Sarn Helen (meaning Helens Causeway), named after the Celtic wife of Macsen Wledig, the last Roman general to govern Wales. Macsen decamped with his troops in AD 383 in order to make himself Emporor of Rome. The Romans left behind them the sign of a red dragon, the Latin alphabet and the Christian religion of Emporor Constantine the Great, whose soldiers bore Christs monogram on their shields. This fifth-century grave-stone in Penmachno was inscribed with the Latin text: Carausius lies here in this heap of stones and the sacred chi-rho symbol. During the Age of the Saints (from the fifth to seventh centuries) missionaries from Ireland and Gaul arrived in Wales, and a monastery developed in Penmachno. In these days monks lived in small wattle and daub huts, all grouped around a larger hut which was used for worship and dedicated to a chosen saint. The area containing the huts and burial ground was called the llan meaning enclosed land. The saints also bequeath their names to many Welsh villages such as Llanberis, which developed near the Llan of St Peris at the foot of Mount Snowdon. On Bardsey Island, at the tip of the Lleyn Peninsula, St Cadfan founded a monastery which attracted pilgrims from miles around. The bones of 20,000 holymen are said to be buried here. At Clynnog Fawr, on the mainland, the Church of St Beuno was a stopping place for these pilgrims, who prayed at the shrine of the saint and bathed in the healing waters of the well. Before the final crossing to Bardsey the travellers rested at the Church of Aberdaron, where the sea lapped against the church wall at high tide. But apart from the evangelists, other newcomers werent so welcome With the departure of the Romans, the Britons were left to defend their borders against swarms of land-hungry tribes Irish, Picts, Scots, Danes, Angles and Saxons. Vortigern (son-in-law of Macsen Wledig) retreated to the craggy rocks of Dinas Emrys, near Beddgelert, from a Saxon invasion of Britain. Vortigern tried to build a fortress on the summit, but, mysteriously, the structure kept disappearing over-night. Young Merlin the Magician revealed why: beneath the foundations was a hidden pool in which two dragons were fighting for control of their crowded kingdom. Although at first the white dragon a Saxon interloper seemed to be winning, ultimately, Merlin foretold, the red dragon a true well Romano-Briton would triumph! In the south-east of Britain the mixed races settled down together. They adoped a common Germanic tongue and the name of Angles, referring to the previous inhabitants as wealhas. By the seventh century the Wealhas living in the west of Britain spoke a derived version of their original Celtic language. At the Church of St Cadfan in Tywyn the epitaph for Cingen was recorded not in Latin this time but in Welsh. The language of Rome was still used though, and when a 20 foot high stone cross was erected in the ninth century to honour Eliseg, King of Powys, his descent from Macsen Wledig and Vortigern was inscribed in Latin. Close-by the Abbey of Valle Crucis was called after this monument its name means Valley of the Cross. In the thirteenth century, the Welsh people were faced with new enemies: this time the Norman conquerors of England. Iorwerth the Flat-nosed erected a timber castle at Dolwyddelan, and his son lived here as a boy. Llywelyn set in stone his fathers castle and built others at Dolbadarn, Criccieth and Castell-y-Bere during his battles with the English kings. He also gave money to several monasteries, including Penmon Priory on Anglesey. The monks living on Puffin Island moved over to Penmon, and the puffins, by our own time, died out too pickled puffins being considered a delicacy. At Aberdyfi, Llywelyn called a council of the Welsh princes, who agreed to unite under him and proclaimed him worthy of the title Llywelyn Fawr that is, Llywelyn the Great. Llywelyn Fawr, his wife Joan and their hound Killhart held court at several palaces through-out Gwynedd, but the legendary site of Llywelyns cottage and the grave of his dog are both in Beddgelert. Joans coffin ended up on Anglesey at Beaumaris parish church, and when Llywelyn died his stone coffin but not his body, which disappeared reached its final resting place in the Church of St. Gwrwst at Llanrwst. For the next 15 years the descendants of Llywelyn Fawr competed for the lands of Gwynedd, until, at the Battle of Bryn Derwin, his grandson (Llywelyn the 2nd) defeated his brothers to take supreme command. One brother, Owain the Red, he then imprisoned in a 2nd floor bedroom in the turret of the keep of Dolbadarn Castle for 22 years. By strength of arms and personality, Llywelyn forced the English monarch to officially recognise him as Prince of Wales. But Llywelyn the 2nd became Llywelyn the Last when he marched against the next king, Edward the 1st, and was run through by a spear. As a traitor to England, Llywelyns head was cut off (a Celtic tradition) and displayed on London Bridge, although the rest of his body found peace inside a Welsh abbey. For a few months Dafydd assumed the title Prince of Wales from his dead brother. During the winter King Edward besieged the Welshmen at Dolwyddelan Castle, but Prince Dafydd himself escaped to Castell-y-Bere, remote in the foothills of Cader Idris. Still Edward pursued him. Dafydd retreated to Dolbadarn and was betrayed by his fellow countrymen. In London the two brothers met again: the head of Llywelyn the Last was joined by Dafydds head; two princes of Wales, crowned with ivy wreaths. Dafydds grandson, however, lies peacefully in the old church of Betws-y-Coed, and in the mountains of Snowdonia two of the highest peaks in Wales, Carnedd Dafydd and Carnedd Llywelyn, were named after the princes. In order to subdue his new Welsh conquests, Edward of England commissioned a series of castles to be constructed around the coast of North Wales. Designed by a master French architect and built by English craftsmen, each castle was the latest in modern military engineering. Conwy Castle featured arrow-slits, murder holes, lavish appartments for the king, and a sunless dungeon for the prisoners. On Anglesey King Edward uprooted the Welsh population of Llanfaes and moved it to a new site New Borough 12 miles away. The empty buildings of Llanfaes were used to create the town and moated castle of Beaumaris, whose name in French means beautiful marsh. From his castle at Rhuddlan the King issued a statute which imposed English laws and administration on the Welsh people. And at Caernarfon Castle, built near the Roman fort of Segontium, King Edward nominated his eldest son, born in the Eagle Tower, as the first in a line of English Princes of Wales But in 1400 a middle-aged country-gentleman, descended from the royal Welsh houses, claimed back the title for Wales. A dispute over land with Lord Grey of Ruthin resulted in Owain Glyndwrs first uprising. After sacking and burning Ruthin, Owain and his men attacked the towns and castles of Denbigh and Rhuddlan. Over the next few years Owain Glyndwr and his illusive army, camping in the hills and riding on Welsh ponies, waged a guerrilla war against the English intruders. At last, with the help of French warships, Owain captured Harlech and Caernarfon Castles and held most of Wales in his control. This latest Prince of Wales was crowned during his first parliament at Machynlleth. Owain made his headquarters in Harlech Castle but after 4 years it was besieged and taken back by Prince Hal of England. However, Owain and one son had already fled to the mountains. Hiding in caves, like those above Beddgelert, Owain and his men continued to skirmish with the English. And when or where the last Welsh Prince of Wales died, or whether he lives on in the mountains of Snowdonia no-one knows. 70 years later a Welshman of royal lineage challenged Richard 3rd of England for his kingdom. Henry Tudor and his army marched along the drovers roads from Aberdyfi to Shrewsbury. At the Battle of Bosworth Field King Richard was killed, and Henry was proclaimed Henry 7th the first Welshman to ascend the English throne. Henry allowed Welshmen to hold important offices once more, and several of the Wynn family, living in Gwydir Castle, became Members of Parliament for the county. On their estate near Penmachno William Morgan was born at Ty Mawr. Son of a tenant farmer, he became bishop of St Asaph and, in 1588, the first translator of the Bible into Welsh. Sir John Wynns reputation is not so honourable. Because of his harshness towards his servants and tenants, Sir Johns soul was forever condemned to the pool below Swallow Falls, where his moans can always be heard. Snowdonia cradles a wealth of minerals. The Romans mined gold here and fished for pearls in the River Conwy. Gold was re-found in Snowdonias hills during the 19th century:- at Clogau, above the Mawddach Estuary, the discovery of a rich gold vein started a Welsh gold rush in buying shares in the mines; near Bala, beneath the ruined castle of Castell Carn Dochan, a young boy saw gold glinting in a stone wall by the roadside; whilst between the rivers Mawddach and Gain the Gold King (Pritchard Morgan) mined his own weight plus two stone in gold during one fortnight. Today, his old mine at Gwynfynydd makes wedding rings for Henry Tudors descendants the British royal family. Gold isnt the only metal lining these mountains, and copper occurs in the quartz rocks above Llyn Glaslyn on Mount Snowdon itself. The first miners here, 4,000 years ago, smelted copper with tin to make bronze tools. Later on, shepherds carried the copper ore down Snowdon on their backs. By the 19th century horses and carts, laden with ore, were led over a causeway built across Llyn Llydaw and down the Miners Track to Pen y Pass. Most of the miners of this time lived in Llanberis. Early on Monday mornings they climbed more than 3000 feet over the top of Snowdon, returning home on Saturday evenings. Throughout the working week, in the 1-room cottages near Llyn Teyrn, the Welsh and Irish families scrapped like tigers; whilst besides the Glaslyn the miners lived in barracks, 2 to each bed, beneath a roof anchored on by cables against strong winds. Nearby, the blacksmith ran a sideline in selling tea to walkers But its at the Sygun Copper Mine where the most exotic income was made: the hills above Beddgelert provided the location for Ingrid Bergmans 1950s film The Inn of the 6th Happiness, set where-else in China. On the Great Orme, near Llandudno, the Bronze Age people also found copper, which they extracted by lighting fires against the limestone and then hitting the weakened rock with stone hammers. The Romans continued mining copper here, as well as lead in the hills above Trefriw, which they shipped in galleys to their harbour at Caerhun and on to Rome. They soon learnt from the local people that the iron-rich waters had a beneficial effect on lead-poisoning caused by inhaling the dust. The Victorians knew Trefriws secret too. Travelling up the Conwy by paddle-steamer, the wealthy came both to drink and bathe in the spa waters. The miners of this Age lived in Pentre-Du the black village near Betws-y-Coed. To reach the lead workings in the hills opposite, the men crossed over the River Llugwy via the Miners Bridge, only yards upstream from the Roman ford used centuries before. The lead mines near Llyn Sarnau and Llyn Parc were many but small and often worked by only one man. In contrast, the slate mines and quarries of the 19th century employed thousands of men and made huge profits for their owners. With the income from their slate quarry at Bethesda the Penrhyn family home was completely rebuilt and refurnished. But this wasnt just another Victorian mansion it became a neo-Norman castle with square keep, round towers and battlements. Unlike most castles, it wasnt cold and damp inside there were log fires and under-floor heating, stained glass windows and silk wallpapers. For the quarrymen who lived in the barracks, bare stone walls and roofs kept off the wind and rain. And, if it was dry, there was a mountain stream in which to wash. In the quarries of Bethesda and Llanberis the rockmen swung and clambered across the open rock-face, forcing out massive blocks of slate with pointed rods and gunpowder. For safetys sake, a chain hitched around one thigh left both hands free to work or to cling on in the midst of falling rocks. From the mines at Blaenau Ffestiniog the slates were transported by tramway to the harbour at Porthmadog and sailed onto the roofs of millions of homes through-out the world. Initially, the slate wagons were hauled by horses until, in the 1860s, the first steam locomotives took on the role. Within a few years the steam trains which travelled between the slate quarries and their ports also carried passengers. And Victorians who once climbed Mount Snowdon on ponies to watch the sunrise could sit more comfortably on the Snowdon Mountain Railway, which followed the original pony track from Llanberis. A new holiday resort developed on the north coast for these tourists, among them Lewis Carroll and the family of Alice, who stayed at Llandudno near the Llan of St Tudno on the Great Orme. During the late 19th century the National Eisteddfod of Wales was established. As now, these annual competitions in music and poetry were announced one year and one day in advance from within specially erected circles of stones. On the banks of Llyn Geirionydd rival eisteddfods were held for many years around the monument to Taliesin, a bard at the court of the King of Powys in the 6th century. Much later, an International Music Eisteddfod was set up in Llangollen, and choirs and soloists, folk-singers and folk-dancers from all over the world still compete in it. Back in 1895 an aspiring land-owner arrived in Wales the newly formed National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty acquired its first property: 41/2 acres of cliffland overlooking Barmouth and Cardigan Bay. By today, the Trusts acquisitions range from the Roman fort of Segontium and the slate barons Penrhyn Castle, to the mountains of the Welsh princes Carnedd Dafydd and Carnedd Llewelyn and Tryfan, on whose northern flank mountaineers train for their ascent of Mount Everest. Many of our mines and quarries closed during the first half of the 20th century, but in 1919 a new organization was set up to replenish the woodlands of Britain, felled for timber during the Great War. The Forestry Commission employed some of the ex-miners to plant thousands of acres with thousands of trees completely transforming the hills of North Wales. Snowdonias lakes and rivers arent free from interference either: Llyn Celyn near Bala provides water, via the River Dee, for Merseyside. Beneath the lake lies the ruins of a small village, drowned on the orders of Liverpool Corporation despite loud protests from both the villagers and Welsh MPs. At Trawsfynydd the reservoir waters cool the reactors within Britains first inland nuclear power station, frowned on by the Roman ghosts of Tomen-y-Mur, in the hills above, who created heating and hot water with such ease 2,000 years ago. Nowadays most of Snowdonias grazing land is used for sheep-farming but in the past rearing cattle and goats was more popular. In these earlier times the Welsh farmer had 2 homes: from the winter farm-house called the hendre in the lowlands the family and herds travelled in May upto their summer-house the hafod in the mountains. As the wool and clothing industries increased in importance sheep became the dominant farm animals. Overnight, commonland was turned into private land, enclosed by dry-stone walls winding across mountains and pastures. On the river-sides near Penmachno and Trefriw fulling mills were built in the 19th century, powered by water-wheels, to take the rough hand-woven cloths from the villagers and smooth them into superior woollen clothing. Today the remaining upland farms are self-sufficient units. Despite the harshness of Snowdonias winters, the Welsh Mountain Sheep and Black Cattle plus the goats and ponies whose ancestors escaped into the wild are ideally suited to the mountainous land in which they live. To ensure that the beauty of this countryside is protected from uncontrolled planning, over 800 square miles of the land around Mount Snowdon was designated in 1951 as the Snowdonia National Park.