The Origin of the Elements

The story of the origin of the elements is intimately intertwined with the evolution of our universe. It is also a central part of the evolution of life on Earth. The elements that make up our bodies reflect the cosmic abundance of the elements, and their presents on the Earth is, itself, part of the evolutionary history of stars. As Neil de Grasse Tyson, an astrophysicist and the director of New York City*s Hayden Planetarium, has put it: We are not simply in the universe; we are born from it.