A version of this article appeared originally in The SCM Core Text on World Christianity in the 20th Century, co-authored with Dr Martin Conway (London: SCM Press 2008). Having set the debate between Science and Christianity in its historical context, it explores a range of contemporary scientific questions such as Quantum Theory and Relativity, Cosmology, The discovery of DNA, Genetic Manipulation and Advances in Medical Treatment. The final section examines Roman Catholic responses, Evangelical and fundamentalist approaches and ecumenical responses to some of these key issues. The article concludes by affirming that an engagement between Christian theology and contemporary developments in science is essential if the contemporary articulation of faith is to have meaning and coherence.

In this article Myfanwy Miles Jones analyses Büchner’s portrayal of the central character’s developing psychosis in the light of R. D. Laing’s existential psychiatric theory. Observing the progressive nature of Büchner’s dramatisation of the depth and coplexity of the human mind in turn reveals the formal limitations of drama in the Nineteenth Century. Setting Woyczeck in the context of Szondi’s formal analysis of modern drama, the article argues that Büchner’s treatment of madness casts new light on the formal development of modernist drama and argues that the fact that the play is unfinished is an inevitable consequence of the project itself, given that the formal resolution of the dramatic situation required the existence of conditions which had not at that time come into being.

Rhaglen ryngweithiol wedi ei seilio ar Bapur Briffio LLAIS: Ymwybyddiaeth o Iaith mewn Ymchwil Iechyd a Gofal Cymdeithasol.

This paper offers a fresh analysis of a number of aspects of Y Wladfa, the Welsh settlement in Patagonia, by bringing into the discussion the notion of ‘liminality’ as interpreted by postcolonial theory. After providing some historical background of the settlement that takes full account of the Argentinean perspective, we set out to explore the pronounced duality characteristic of the Welsh pioneers in Chubut in their stance as virtual colonisers and colonised. This double consciousness, which can be traced back to the very origins of the Fenter Fawr, is studied both in a general context and with particular reference to the complex relationship that developed between the Welsh immigrants and Patagonia’s original peoples.

The Welsh language has several features in its grammar which are crosslinguistically very unusual. This paper looks at five such features, at their rarity in the languages of the world and at their place in Welsh grammar. It shows that the textual frequency of each feature, in corpora of spoken and written Welsh, is declining. These five features, which had been stable in Welsh since the earliest records well over a thousand years ago, have in the lifetime of older speakers become optional or obsolescent in the spoken language: the grammar of the language has changed. Welsh is likely changing because of bilingualism. Along with the recent increase in the public use of Welsh has come an increase in the use of English in the everyday lives of Welsh speakers. The average Welsh-speaker now speaks more English than Welsh, outside the family at least. Speaking a second language fluently and regularly HAS been shown to affect the speaker's first language, probably to lessen the psychological load in constantly switching between the two languages. It is argued that in such a situation cross-linguistically unusual features are inherently more susceptible to loss. Finally, the paper looks very briefly at possible future developments.

The paper reports on three epochs of bridge building in Wales. The first period, from Roman times to the start of the Industrial Revolution, was dominated by the use of local materials (stone and timber) by local craftsmen. The second period was an integral part of the Industrial Revolution when new bridge building materials (cast iron, wrought iron and steel) were developed and used in the construction of canal and railway bridges. The third period was associated with the growth of traffic following World War II when concrete and steel became the dominant bridge building materials during the development of the trunk roads and motorways. The paper shows, in simple terms, the fundamental structural engineering developments underpinning these developments as new materials became available for bridge building. In particular, the evolvement of various beam cross-sections, tubes and trusses is discussed. Attention is also given to the significant contribution of four world-renowned bridge builders: William Edwards who built the famous arch bridge at Pontypridd; Thomas Telford who built the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and the Menai Suspension Bridge; Robert Stephenson who built tubular bridges at Conway and over the Menai Straits and I. K. Brunel who built the unique Chepstow Railway Bridge and the railway timber viaduct at Landore, Swansea. Finally, the paper draws attention to some of the unique bridges of Wales.

Over the last quarter century, housing has become increasingly unaffordable for thevast majority of people. This article seeks to address what has caused this situation, and what its effects are on the individual and on the community. It will also consider how unaffordable housing and the lack of housing opportunities for local people affects the Welsh language. The article will then consider the mechanisms that have been adopted both by the National Assembly for Wales and by the Whitehall Government to resolve the inter-related problems of unaffordable housing and local people being unable to afford to buy houses in their local area, and the extent to which these solutions provide answers to this dilemma that are sustainable in the long term. To conclude, suggestions of how to improve the existing frameworks will be proposed, along with more radical approaches to ensure that housing does not become a luxury commodity.

This paper presents a review of the fluvial geomorphology research undertaken on Wales’ rivers. As well as discussing trends seen in these studies, by firstly focussing on the work of geologists of the late nineteenth century, and by progressing through the development of geomorphology as a research field to the present interdisciplinary period, the fields that have received particular attention on Welsh rivers are discussed. These include the evolution of the mega-geomorphology of Wales, innovative process studies, the evolution of alluvial fluvial systems to short- and long-term climatic changes, and the response of Welsh rivers to anthropogenic activity. This range of studies is a result of the nature of Welsh fluvial systems. Firstly, they display an evolutionary history including glacial periods and rejuvenation. Secondly, contemporary processes have created a wide range of channel types, including bedrock channels, gravel bed rivers, meandering, braided, stable and unstable channels. Thirdly, academic interest and pragmatic concerns regarding river management have led to a large body of work that has, in some cases, led to many reaches on Welsh rivers being classed as international archetypes. Gaps in our knowledge are also discussed. These include the need to increase our understanding of contemporary process and to continue the work done on alluvial response and evolution through using the latest techniques to constrain the chronology of fluvial system development. There is a need to extend the spatial scope of our studies to areas which have not received as much attention in the past such as the bedrock and mixed bedrock-alluvial channels of the north-west and the south Wales valleys.

This is a translation by Emeritus Professor Alun O. Morris from his book Linear Algebra - An Introduction, which first appeared in 1978 and was published by Van Nostrand Reinhold. A second edition appeared in 1982 and over the years there have been numerous reprints. The book was also translated into Greek and Turkish. Although the book has been out of print in English for some years now, it is clear that it is still being used at a number of universities and so it was decided to translate it into Welsh. The translation was originally located in Aberystwyth University's online research repository.  https://cadair.aber.ac.uk/dspace/?locale-attribute=cy

Aitchison and Carter’s analyses of the Census over the last decades have succeeded in making the main trends concerning the spatial distribution of Welsh known to everyone with an interest in the future of the language. Even so, some aspects remain unexamined. This paper is an attempt to give a different view of the trends by presenting a number of new analyses. In the first part, language production between 1991 and 2001 that is the effect of the education system, is examined. It is shown that the introduction of the National Curriculum in Gwent led to the biggest changes. In the second part, the geographical distribution of Welsh-speakers is looked at, especially those areas where more than 70% could speak Welsh. Some indices are introduced in order to quantify the situation and to explain the significance of those areas. Lastly, the implications of spatial distribution (or social network) to the use of Welsh is discussed by consideration of a little probability theory.

This paper examines the background and underlying assumptions involved in a public debate between Dr Kate Roberts and Dr Thomas Parry which was conducted in the columns of the Genedl newspaper in the early nineteen thirties. The subject of the debate was the policy governing the selection of plays for the annual performance of the Bangor students’ Welsh Drama Society. Since its ground breaking production of Ifor Wiliams’s translation of A Dolls House in 1926 the annual Bangor drama production had come to be seen as an event of considerable importance in the programme of the Drama Movement in Wales. However, the author of the article suggests that analysis of the aesthetic and cultural assumptions of the two authors – themselves figures of central importance at the time – raises issues of wider importance than the Drama movement itself, which continue to affect academic and cultural debate today.

This paper offers a brief examination of the approach taken by the Welsh Language Board, as the principal language policy and planning body in Wales, to aspects of prestige planning and the Welsh language. It describes how devolution, and the recent, first ever, national review by the Welsh Assembly Government of Welsh language policy, provide the immediate context for the work of the Welsh Language Board. The key policy document resulting from that review, Iaith Pawb, is critically analysed and the relationship to it of prestige planning is identified. The Welsh Language Board’s practice of prestige planning is discussed in relation to the discourses of neo-liberalism and post-colonialism in a way that highlights the Board’s focus on consumers rather than citizens.