Quest for the Elements

This popular science book offers a history of nuclear astrophysics starting from the identification of the elements in the stars and traces how our present ideas emerged out of clashes of opinions, experimental developments and refining of concepts.

Stars have fascinated man from immemorial times. The apparently inexhaustible source of the energy of the stars had been a mystery ever since humans understood that the laws of physics forbid creation of energy from nothing. Over centuries, our ideas about the composition of the stars went through two revolutions. Several prominent scientists - including Kirchoff, Saha, Eddignton, Payne, Gamow, Hoyle, Margaret and Geofrey Burbidge and many others - proposed seemingly opposing ideas about abundances and formation of elements in the Universe. The book narrates how the ancient ideas were replaced by modern concepts that led to the developments in nuclear astrophysics.

This book is meant for general readers and avoids complicated mathematics.