The fourth novel in Cherryh’s Foreigner space opera series, a groundbreaking tale of first contact and its consequences… Over three years have passed since the reappearance of the starship Phoenix, which two centuries before left an isolated colony of humans on the world of the volatile atevi. Since that time, humans have lived in exile on the island of Mospheira; but the unexpected return of the Phoenix has shattered the fragile political balance of these two nearly incompatible races. For the captains of the Phoenix offer the atevi something the Mospheiran humans never could—access to the stars. For three breakneck years the atevi labor to build a space shuttle which will bear their representatives to the Phoenix, to strengthen connections with their new human allies and retain their bid for control of their world. But as soon as the shuttle proves spaceworthy, the captains of the Phoenix suddenly recall their planetary delegates, breaking diplomatic contact and initiating a vicious bid for political dominance. But the powerful head of the atevi's Western Association is not to be outmaneuvered, and he sends his own diplomat, or paidhi, Bren Cameron, into space to negotiate. Thrust into a political maelstrom with almost no preparation, can Bren gain control of the station and political supremacy for the atevi without sparking a three-sided interspecies war? The long-running Foreigner series can also be enjoyed by more casual genre readers in sub-trilogy installments. Precursor is the 4th Foreigner novel. It is also the 1st book in the second subtrilogy.

In the aftermath of catastrophes, it is common to find prior indicators, missed signals, and dismissed alerts that, had they been recognized and appropriately managed before the event, could have resulted in the undesired event being averted. These indicators are typically called "precursors." Accident Precursor Analysis and Management: Reducing Technological Risk Through Diligence documents various industrial and academic approaches to detecting, analyzing, and benefiting from accident precursors and examines public-sector and private-sector roles in the collection and use of precursor information. The book includes the analysis, findings and recommendations of the authoring NAE committee as well as eleven individually authored background papers on the opportunity of precursor analysis and management, risk assessment, risk management, and linking risk assessment and management.

A thoughtful and original analysis of the writings of influential French philosopher Gilles Deleuze. Gilles Deleuze is considered one of the most important French philosophers of the twentieth century. Eleanor Kaufman situates Deleuze in relation to others of his generation, such as Jean-Paul Sartre, Pierre Klossowski, Maurice Blanchot, and Claude Lévi-Strauss, and she engages the provocative readings of Deleuze by Alain Badiou and Slavoj Žižek. Deleuze, The Dark Precursor is organized around three themes that critically overlap: dialectic, structure, and being. Kaufman argues that Deleuze's work is deeply concerned with these concepts, even when he advocates for the seemingly opposite notions of univocity, nonsense, and becoming. By drawing on scholastic thought and reading somewhat against the grain, Kaufman suggests that these often-maligned themes allow for a nuanced, even positive reflection on apparently negative states of being, such as extreme inertia. This attention to the negative or minor category has implications that extend beyond philosophy and into feminist theory, film, American studies, anthropology, and architecture.

Material synthesis by the transformation of organometallic compounds (precursors) by vapor deposition techniques such as chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and atomic layer deposition (ALD) has been in the forefront of modern day research and development of new materials. There exists a need for new routes for designing and synthesizing new precursors as well as the application of established molecular precursors to derive tuneable materials for technological demands. With regard to the precursor chemistry, a most detailed understanding of the mechanistic complexity of materials formation from molecular precursors is very important for further development of new processes and advanced materials. To emphasize and stimulate research in these areas, this volume comprises a selection of case studies covering various key-aspects of the interplay of precursor chemistry with the process conditions of materials formation, particularly looking at the similarities and differences of CVD, ALD and nanoparticle synthesis, e.g. colloid chemistry, involving tailored molecular precursors.

The series Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft (BZAW) covers all areas of research into the Old Testament, focusing on the Hebrew Bible, its early and later forms in Ancient Judaism, as well as its branching into many neighboring cultures of the Ancient Near East and the Greco-Roman world.

Nanomaterials via Single-Source Precursors: Synthesis, Processing and Applications presents recent results and overviews of synthesis, processing, characterization and applications of advanced materials for energy, electronics, biomedicine, sensors and aerospace. A variety of processing methods (vapor, liquid and solid-state) are covered, along with materials, including metals, oxides, semiconductor, sulfides, selenides, nitrides, and carbon-based materials. Production of quantum dots, nanoparticles, thin films and composites are described by a collection of international experts. Given the ability to customize the phase, morphology, and properties of target materials, this "rational approach to synthesis and processing is a disruptive technology for electronic, energy, structural and biomedical (nano)materials and devices. The use of single-source chemical precursors for materials processing technology allows for intimate elemental mixing and hence production of complex materials at temperatures well below traditional physical methods and those involving direct combination of elements. The use of lower temperatures enables thin-film deposition on lightweight polymer substrates and reduces damage to complex devices structures such as used in power, electronics and sensors. - Discusses new approaches to synthesis or single-source precursors (SSPs) and the concept of rational design of materials - Includes materials processing of SSPs in the design of new materials and novel devices - Provides comprehensive coverage of the subject (materials science and chemistry) as related to SSPs and the range of potential applications

Tom Harlan brings his Oath of Empire series to a shattering conclusion in The Dark Lord. In what would be the 7th Century AD in our history, the Roman Empire still stands, supported by the twin pillars of the Legions and Thaumaturges of Rome. The Emperor of the West, the Augustus Galen Atreus, came to the aid of the Emperor of the East, the Avtokrator Heraclius, in his war with the Sassanad Emperor of Persia. But despite early victories, that war has not gone well, and now Rome is hard-pressed. Constantinople has fallen before the dark sorceries of the Lord Dahak and his legions of the living and dead. Now the new Emperor of Persia marches on Egypt, and if he takes that ancient nation, Rome will be starved and defeated. But there is a faint glimmer of hope. The Emperor Galen's brother Maxian is a great sorcerer, perhaps the equal of Dahak, lord of the seven serpents. He is now firmly allied with his Imperial brother and Rome. And though they are caught tight in the Dark Lord's net of sorcery, Queen Zoe of Palmyra and Lord Mohammed have not relinquished their souls to evil. Powerful, complex, engrossing --Thomas Harlan's Oath of Empire series has taken fantasy readers by storm. The first three volumes, The Shadow of Ararat, The Gate of Fire, and The Storm of Heaven have been universally praised. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.