Cambrian Way

Dubbed 'the mountain connoisseurs' walk', the Cambrian Way stretches 479km between the mighty castles of Cardiff in the south and Conwy on the north coast. Traversing the heartland of Wales, the challenging route crosses the Brecon Beacons, the Cambrian Mountains and Snowdonia, passing through two national parks and visiting many of the country's iconic summits, including Pen y Fan, Pumlumon, Cadair Idris and Snowdon itself. It can be walked in three weeks (or in shorter sections) and is suitable for experienced hillwalkers with sound navigational skills. The guide presents the route in 21 stages, offering comprehensive route description illustrated with OS 1:50,000 mapping and elevation profiles. Details of accommodation and facilities are provided, along with a helpful trek planner showing their distribution along the route: although the trail passes through remote areas, it is possible to stay under a roof every night - though camping is also a possibility, should you prefer. There are background notes on Wales's history and geology and local points of interest, and a glossary of Welsh place-names, useful contacts and accommodation listings can be found in the appendices. From the Black Mountains to the Rhinogau, Glyderau and Carneddau, the route takes in lofty ridges, striking peaks and picturesque lakes. There are also fascinating glimpses into the country's ancient and more recent past: Iron Age hillforts, Norman castles, a Cistercian abbey, the Chartist Cave and relics from the mining industry. Offering superlative scenery, the Cambrian Way is a celebration of some of the best mountain walking Wales has to offer and promises a unique opportunity to immerse yourself in these celebrated landscapes.

This guidebook describes the Snowdonia Way in Wales, a long-distance route through Eryri (Snowdonia) National Park from Machynlleth to Conwy. A low-level route of 97 miles (in 6 stages of between 13 and 21 miles) passes through the heart of Eryri's stunning mountain scenery and includes Pass of Aberglaslyn, Ogwen Valley and Aber Falls. It is suitable for walkers of average fitness and stamina, though the day stages are long. An alternative mountain route covers 122 miles in 9 stages of 12-18 miles, giving a spectacular journey over the most famous peaks such as Cadair Idris, Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) and the Glyders. The high-level route is more physically challenging and requires good navigation skills. Full route descriptions for each stage are accompanied by OS maps and profiles. The guide also includes lists of accommodation and transport providers and a table of facilities to help with itinerary planning. Background notes on Eryri's geology, wildlife and history and extra information about features encountered along the way will help you discover more about this ancient and beautiful land.

The Cambrian Way is a tough high level coast to coast walk through wildest Wales. Tony Drake, pioneer of the Cambrian Way, brought many years of experience as a footpath conservationist to the planning of this superb route for the discerning mountain walker. The route has been well researched to follow public rights of way or access land over mountain and moorland. It provides a fine three weeks walk through scenically superb and largely unfrequented country. The route in this book requires map reading skills and much stamina to achieve its 288 miles and about 67,000 feet of ascent. There is however no need to worry about peat bogs, interminable stiles, firing ranges, deer stalking and grouse shooting that beset some other trails. This is a practical guide and handbook with 106 maps and information on a total of 131 youth hostels, bunk houses, camp sites and b&b addresses.

In summer 2010 Simon Armitage decided to walk the Pennine Way. The challenging 256-mile route is usually approached from south to north, from Edale in the Peak District to Kirk Yetholm, the other side of the Scottish border. He resolved to tackle it the other way round: through beautiful and bleak terrain, across lonely fells and into the howling wind, he would be walking home, towards theYorkshire village where he was born. Travelling as a 'modern troubadour' without a penny in his pocket, he stopped along the way to give poetry readings in village halls, churches, pubs and living rooms. His audiences varied from the passionate to the indifferent, and his readings were accompanied by the clacking of pool balls, the drumming of rain and the bleating of sheep. WALKING HOME describes this extraordinary, yet ordinary, journey. It's a story about Britain's remote and overlooked interior - the wildness of its landscape and the generosity of the locals who sustained him on his journey. It's about facing emotional and physical challenges, and sometimes overcoming them. It's nature writing, but with people at its heart. Contemplative, moving and droll, it is a unique narrative from one of our most beloved writers.

Until the mid-1980s, AI researchers assumed that an intelligent system doing high-level reasoning was necessary for the coupling of perception and action. In this traditional model, cognition mediates between perception and plans of action. Realizing that this core AI, as it was known, was illusory, Rodney A. Brooks turned the field of AI on its head by introducing the behavior-based approach to robotics. The cornerstone of behavior-based robotics is the realization that the coupling of perception and action gives rise to all the power of intelligence and that cognition is only in the eye of an observer. Behavior-based robotics has been the basis of successful applications in entertainment, service industries, agriculture, mining, and the home. It has given rise to both autonomous mobile robots and more recent humanoid robots such as Brooks' Cog. This book represents Brooks' initial formulation of and contributions to the development of the behavior-based approach to robotics. It presents all of the key philosophical and technical ideas that put this "bottom-up" approach at the forefront of current research in not only AI but all of cognitive science.

Running Challenges by Keri Wallace showcases 100 of the best runs across Great Britain, from inspiring 5Ks through to epic multi-day ultras. Split into three sections – England, Scotland and Wales – and featuring a mixture of marked trails, organised races and unmarked self-navigated challenges, the runs ramp up in difficulty as you go through each section, so, whether you are a beginner or a more experienced trail, fell, mountain or ultra runner, you can find something achievable, accessible or aspirational. Keri draws on her experience as a mountain runner and running guide for Girls on Hills to hand pick the best and most interesting runs across Great Britain, starting with some first-rate parkruns and short trail runs, including the Loch Coruisk loop and the Hampstead Heath circuit, working up to tough and demanding routes and races, such as the Welsh 3000s and the Bob Graham Round. Use this book to tick challenges off, or as a tool to plan where to run next – wherever you are in the UK there will be a run nearby. Each run has handy details to help with planning your adventure – start and finish points, distance and ascent, navigational difficulty, public transport, parking, route profile and overview map – along with inspirational text and stunning photography to give you a flavour of what the run is like. Other options nearby are included, along with suggestions for other similar challenges throughout Great Britain.

The Cambrian radiation was the explosive evolution of marine life that started 550,000,000 years ago. It ranks as one of the most important episodes in Earth history. This key event in the history of life on our planet changed the marine biosphere and its sedimentary environment forever, requiring a complex interplay of wide-ranging biologic and nonbiologic processes. The Ecology of the Cambrian Radiation offers a comprehensive and surprising picture of the Earth at that ancient time. The book contains contributions from thirty-three authors hailing from ten countries and will be of interest to paleontologists, geologists, biologists, and other researchers interested in the global Earth-life system.