Solid Solution

"Solid Solution" by James Stamers is a science fiction story set in the 1960s that follows students at the Desert Institute. The students work with Professor David Adam Smith, who can magnify matter. The story looks at themes of intelligence, competition, and wanting to be free through science. The story follows Morris, who avoids being kicked out of school and instead joins a plan to leave Earth using Professor Smith’s new method. These students use a special crystal process. They come up with a plan to change their environment and move to planets where people can live. They then discover Professor Smith's dark secret of how he has authority and controls knowledge. With other students and kidnapped scientists, they take over Professor Smith’s authority, which allows them to escape to a better future beyond Earth, creating an exciting adventure.