A method for the production of carbon particles comprising selecting a precursor material, sizing said precursor material, stabilizing said precursor material, carbonizing said precursor material, and graphitizing said precursor material, wherein the precursor material has a volatile matter content of from about 5 wt. The trough and the interior fluid reservoir are maintained at a consistent fluid level. In an illustrative embodiment, the first circuit includes a receiver adapted to receive a GPS signal and output GPS data samples, and a processor adapted to calculate a navigation solution from the GPS data samples using an integrate and dump signal processing technique. One or more correlated instructional reading levels are selected to be printed on a label for application onto a reading book. Further, the anterior module can be rigid for maintaining the lens in an optically-desirable orientation.