A disgruntled young chemist. A reformed noble thief. A cranky, middle-aged lord. What could possibly go wrong? Apprentice chemist Iggy's uncle won't sign her off as competent, even though he trusts her with Project Sapphire: researching a formula to erase forensic evidence. When she finds an alternative route to sign-off, she applies her energy to that, neglecting her assigned duties to do so. In a stroke of luck, this decision leads her to a sponsorship deal, but her benefactor has secrets she's unaware of. After his recent adventure abroad, Lord Richard Hayes is now home: and on probation to keep his seat on the Council of Lords. He has plentiful funds, detailed instructions and a boring plan for honest living, but despite his efforts to fit in, everything starts to go wrong. He loses his only household servant, he antagonises a young chemist the first time he meets her, and he gets blamed for a burglary he didn't even do. The only bright spot is that making new enemies keeps life from being completely dull. Stiff-necked Lord Huntley Angus detests frivolous young nobles who dodge responsibility for their actions. But when he secretly pawns his wife's jewellery to pay an unexpected debt, he gets entangled in a spiralling set of misfortunes. The Sapphire Solution is a fantasy of manners that takes place immediately after the events of The Diamond Device.

The updated 6th Edition of the Bestselling book ‘73 SSC English Previous Year Topic-wise Solved Papers (2010 - 2023)' consists of original past solved papers conducted for the major SSC Exams - SSC CGL, 10+2 CHSL, Sub-Inspector, and Multi Tasking of Past 14 Years from the year 2010 to 2023. • The coverage of the papers has been kept RECENT (2010 to 2023) as they actually reflect the changed pattern of the SSC exams. • The book also includes 2022-23 SSC CGL Tier I & Tier II question paper. • In all there are 73 Question papers, covering 3300+ MCQs, from 2010 to 2023 which have been divided into 11 Topics. • The solution of each and every question is provided in detail (step-by-step) so as to provide 100% concept clarity to the students. • Practicing these questions, aspirants will come to know about the pattern and toughness of the questions asked in the examination. • In the end, this book will make the aspirants competent & confident enough to crack the uncertainty of success in the Entrance Examination. • The strength of the book lies in the originality of its question papers and Errorless Solutions.

Microchemistry is an interdisciplinary area in which relevant results are presented and published in a range of fields including spectroscopy, optics, applied physics, electrochemistry and polymer science. This volume collects for the first time all the latest research and results and classifies them into five parts. Optical micromanipulation and creation, microfabrication and functionalization and dynamic microspectroscopy are novel methodologies for microchemistry where exploratory ideas and future perspectives are included. Microphotochemistry and microelectrochemistry and microphotoconversion are concerned with the relaxation dynamics and chemical reactions in small domains. This comprehensive, up-to-date review of the field will be of great interest to scientists and students working in these areas.

After diamond power promises to replace steam, an unemployed labourer and a thieving noble unite to foil an international plot and avert a war. Alf Wilson resents the new technology that cost him his factory job, especially as his clockwork leg bars him from army enrolment. He daren’t confess his unemployment to his overbearing mother. Desperate over the rent, he ends up in a detention cell with a hangover. Impoverished Lord Richard Hayes maintains his expensive parliamentary seat by a mixture of charm and burglary. During a poorly planned break-in, he inadvertently witnesses a kidnapping. To cap it all, the police arrest him for the crime. At least he's using a fake identity. The real criminals make off with not just the professor who discovered diamond power, but her plans for a diamond-fuelled bomb. When Rich encounters Alf in the neighbouring cell, he sees an opportunity to keep his noble reputation intact. He persuades Alf he's a secret agent who needs an assistant. This chance association will take them to the oddest locations. But law-abiding Alf’s first assignment? Break Rich out of jail. The Diamond Device was a semifinalist in the 2022 Self-Published Science Fiction Contest.

By the second half of the twentieth century, a new branch of materials science had come into being — crystalline materials research. Its appearance is linked to the emergence of advanced technologies primarily based on single crystals (bulk crystals and films). At the turn of the last century, the impending onset of the “ceramic era” was forecasted. It was believed that ceramics would play a role comparable to that of the Stone or Bronze Ages in the history of civilization. Naturally, such an assumption was hypothetical, but it showed that ceramic materials had evoked keen interest among researchers. Although sapphire traditionally has been considered a gem, it has developed into a material typical of the “ceramic era.” Widening the field of sapphire application necessitated essential improvement of its homogeneity and working characteristics and extension of the range of sapphire products, especially those with stipulated properties including a preset structural defect distribution. In the early 1980s, successful attainment of crystals with predetermined char- teristics was attributed to proper choice of the growth method. At present, in view of the fact that the requirements for crystalline products have become more str- gent, such an approach tends to be insufficient. It is clear that one must take into account the physical–chemical processes that take place during the formation of the real crystal structure, i.e., the growth mechanisms and the nature and causes of crystal imperfections.