PROLOGUE: THE COSMIC CONNECTION
PART ONE: ATOMS
CHAPTER 1:
THE ALPHABET OF NATURE
How we discovered that everything
on Earth is made of atoms
CHAPTER 2:
ATOMS ARE NOT THE SMALLEST THINGS
How we discovered that atoms are
made of smaller
things and that heavy atoms can
change into lighter
atoms, unleashing a damburst of
energy
PART TWO: ATOMS AND STARS
CHAPTER 3:
THE DISINTEGRATING SUN
How we came to realise that the
Sun must be drawing
on the energy locked inside atoms
CHAPTER 4:
DEDUCTIONS FROM A GLIMMER OF STARLIGHT
How we discovered that the same
atoms present on
Earth also exist in the Sun and
stars but that the
disintegration of atoms cannot be powering the Sun
CHAPTER 5:
THE ANOMALOUSLY HIGH MASS OF HYDROGEN
How we discovered that the
conversion of a light atom
into a heavier atom would unleash
a damburst of
energy and the suggestion was made
that such a
process was powering the Sun
CHAPTER 6:
THE INFERNAL CONSTITUTION OF STARS
How we discovered the incredible
conditions inside
the Sun and stars but realised
that the temperature
was far too low to convert hydrogen into helium
CHAPTER 7:
TUNNELLING IN THE SUN
How we found that the fusion of
hydrogen in the Sun
was possible after all and
identified a plausible
process for accomplishing the feat
CHAPTER 8:
A RECIPE FOR SUNLIGHT
How we discovered the precise
manner in which
hydrogen is converted into helium
inside stars
PART THREE: THE MAGIC FURNACE
CHAPTER 9:
THE FORGE OF GOD
How we discovered that the mix of
elements was the
same everywhere in the Universe
and realised that the
atoms in our bodies had actually
been made
CHAPTER 10: THE INFERNO AT THE DAWN OF TIME
Were the elements made in the
fireball of a hot Big
Bang?
CHAPTER 11: THE KEY TO THE STARS
How we discovered that the stars
contain the key to
unlocking the secret of atoms and
the atoms the key
to unlocking the puzzle of the
stars
CHAPTER 12: THE ULTIMATE NUCLEAR WEAPON
How we found dramatic proof that
the extraordinary
temperatures and densities
necessary to make heavy
elements really did exist inside
stars
CHAPTER 13: BEYOND THE BERYLLIUM BARRIER
How the major obstacle to building
elements in stars
was finally removed
CHAPTER 14: THE CRUCIBLES OF STARS
How we finally discovered the main
processes that
made the atoms in our bodies
CHAPTER 15: A TALE OF TWO SITES
How we learnt that the chemical elements were made
in two places--inside stars and in
the fireball of
the Big Bang
CHAPTER 16: THE ENGINES OF CREATION
How a death in the neighbourhood
highlighted the way
in which heavy elements are vomited into space and
enrich the gas drifting between
the stars
EPILOGUE: THE ATOMS OF CURIOSITY