The Stellar Forge

Where did the carbon in your cells, the calcium in your bones, and the gold in a ring actually come from? The Stellar Forge answers one of science's grandest questions by telling the story of how a nearly simple universe learned to make the elements of life. Written for curious general readers, it is a vivid guide to the nuclear fires inside stars, the spectacular deaths that scatter their ashes, and the cosmic ancestry hidden in every atom around us.

Readers will journey from the Big Bang's first hydrogen and helium to the slow fusion that powers the Sun, the lucky resonance that made carbon abundant, and the iron barrier that changes a star's fate. Along the way, they will see how red giants, supernovae, and stellar winds enrich the galaxy, and how the 2017 detection of a neutron star merger finally revealed the long-sought birthplace of gold and platinum.

Blending lucid explanation with the human drama of discovery, this book turns stellar nucleosynthesis into a clear, compelling narrative rather than a wall of physics. It shows not just what stars make, but how scientists learned to read that story in starlight, neutrinos, meteorites, and gravitational waves-making the deep history of matter feel intimate, surprising, and unforgettable.