THE ORIGIN OF THE ELEMENTS

The chemical elements that make up the matter we observe throughout the universe were created in these reactions. Approximately 15 billion years ago the universe began as an extremely hot and dense region of radiant energy, the Big Bang.

 
Did you ever wonder where these elements came from? How were the gold in our jewelry, the carbon in our bodies, and the iron in our cars made? In this lecture, we will trace the origin of a gold atom from the Big Bang to the present day, and beyond. You will learn how the elements were forged in the nuclear furnaces inside stars, and how, when they die, these massive stars spread the elements into space. You will learn about the origin of the building blocks of matter in the Big Bang, and we will speculate on the future of the atoms around us today.
 
Speaker: Dr. Edward Murphy, University of Virginia
 
Dr. Edward M. Murphy is Associate Professor, General Faculty at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. He earned his bachelor's degree in Astronomy from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and his Ph.D. in Astronomy from the University of Virginia in 1996. Professor Murphy was a postdoctoral fellow and an associate research scientist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, where he worked on NASA's Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE). In 2000 he joined the faculty at the University of Virginia, where he continues to use FUSE, along with radio telescopes, in his research on the interstellar medium. Professor Murphy teaches courses on introductory astronomy and intelligent life in the universe to undergraduates, as well as seminars on how to teach astronomy to graduate students. He also offers evening classes for the local community at the historical Leander McCormick Observatory. He was named a Teaching and Technology Fellow in 2002-2003 and an Ernest Boots Mead Honored Faculty Fellow in 2003-2004.

Latest comments

01.11 | 06:43

I would love to catch up too, Marian.
Please send me an email at baronastewart@gmail.com. We can communicate there.

01.11 | 01:11

Doing well, everyone is healthy and happy. I'd love to catch up. Hope you are doing well.

26.10 | 21:51

I certainly will. Well, with Larry, anyway. Our dad’s been gone a long time now. Thanks so much, Baron.

26.10 | 05:59

Please share the stories with your dad and Larry. That dinner party was the catalyst for this blog. They might find my perspective interesting.