Welsh Journals

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Nature in Wales and the Marches 1955-1985 Douglas A. Bassett Introduction The thirty years since the publication of the first issue of the journal Nature in Wales represents a remarkable period in history if only because it is a period of unprecedented change and of an unprecedented rate of change. Many of the changes which have affected Wales have been outlined in the rash of books on the Principality published in the last five years or so. These include detailed discussions of most of the more important political, economic, industrial, social, demographic, educational, cultural, literary and linguistic changes. They do not, however, include more than a passing mention to the quite intensive scientific study of a wide variety of aspects of nature and of natural phenomena in Wales during these thirty years, nor of the increasing impact on nature of the various developments and trends outlined by the various authors nor of the spectacular growth of a conservation movement. It seems appropriate, therefore, in the thirtieth anniversary issue of the journal, to draw attention to some of the many events of the period and of the various developments in the study of nature and in the interactions of man with nature. This is done in the form of a chronology which, in some ways, is an elaboration of some of the long-standing features in Nature in Wales- News from all quarters', 'News from the National Museum of Wales', 'Brief Notes' and 'Field Notes'. The main text is supplemented by a bibliography-also arranged chronologically- which includes a representative list of references and suggestions for further reading. Being that neither science nor the environment recognise administrative boundaries, the chronology includes references to areas beyond Offa's Dyke-for example, to the whole of the Dee and Severn estuaries and to the surrounding seas. It also includes some events which took place well outside the administrative boundaries-the atomic tests of the 1950s and 1960s, for example-but which nevertheless had varying degrees of impact on Wales. Clearly the coverage can not be systematic or comprehensive, but every effort has been made to reflect relevant events or developments on a British, continental and global level as well as those on a local and regional scale. The choice of items reflects four overlapping themes-that of the study of nature and of man's attempt to understand 'natural law'; of man's use of and impact on nature; of the conflicts that arise from divergent perspectives or philosophies; and on the attempts made to resolve the conflicts. Taking the first theme, some of the most spectacular developments include: the considerable growth in the number of scientists involved in the study of nature and the equally considerable growth in the number of publications issued; the many improvements in scientific techniques-including, for example, the introduction of radio-carbon dating, some three years before the beginning of the period under consideration, the development of the electron microscope, and the adaptation of so many instruments for use in the ever-increasing study of the sea and of the sea bed; the appearance of exciting new sciences, such as molecular biology; the major changes in the nature of older subjects-for example, that from an 'observational' biology to an experimental biology; the equally major change in perspective brought about by such new ideas as the double helix structure of the DNA molecule in the life sciences and the all-embracing concept of plate tectonics in the earth sciences; the changing significance of museum and herbarium collections; the considerable increase in the use of maps and atlases to portray scientific information; and the way in which William Bateson's tribute to Charles Darwin-probably the finest of all the many tributes-has been confirmed (and its truth widely disseminated during two Darwin centenaries-in 1959 and 1982): 'we shall honour most in him not the rounded merit of finite achievement, but the creative power by which he inaugurated a line of discovery endless in variety and extension'. In addition, the period under review has been characterised by a considerable increase in the study of the history of the biological and geological sciences, including studies by professional historians as well as by biologists and geologists with an interest in the development of their disciplines. The period witnessed the coming of age of the history of science as a professional discipline.