Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 The history of the elements stretches back to the birth of the universe. Their story is long, but in relation to human time, it's been only 13. 8 billion years since the universe was born.

#2 The universe began with a bang. The energy in the universe was flung out in all directions. Over the course of the next twelve hours, the mass in the universe continued clumping together. Huge clouds of atoms were formed, and before the clock struck three in the morning, groups of these clouds had become the first galaxies.

#3 The weight of all the surrounding atoms pressed the hydrogen atoms against each other with great force. The pressure then became so intense that it caused the hydrogen nuclei to fuse and form new helium nuclei. This released a huge amount of energy that warmed up the clump of atoms, making it a bright star.

#4 The elements are the building blocks of matter. They are the fundamental components of everything in the universe, and they are constant on Earth. They are only created through radioactive processes in which unstable nuclei of uranium and other heavy elements sometimes start splitting up.