The Story of Gold

Throughout history mankind has sought gold for its corrosion resistance, malleable nature, and its beauty. The rarity of the metal made it valuable and much effort would be expended to secure supplies. It's not until recent decades that we have been able to gauge to rarity of gold in the Universe as a whole and attempt to explain why this is so.
The Story of Gold Essay PDF

Where Are Stars Born?

The twentieth century saw great advances in our understanding of the workings of the stars mankind had studied for many centuries. Through the advent of nuclear chemistry the source of a star's energy, nuclear fusion, was exposed, solving the age old question of 'Why does the Sun shine?' Analysis of starlight has become a fine art, allowing science to dissect the star and catalogue its composition, size, temperature, atmosphere, magnetic field, and other properties. The development of high speed, general purpose computers has allowed the numerical solution of equations that govern a ball of gas the size of a star and explain many observed phenomena. These models have allowed us to probe the evolution of stars toward their end, and back toward their creation. With the application of improving optical and electronic sensor systems, and space based equipment, astronomers have been able to find the results of stellar evolution. Until recently science had not truly uncovered the birthplace of stars. Even now, there are some questions that remain unanswered. This paper aims to briefly cover the topic of stellar formation, the locations in which it happens, and the tools astronomers use to study these regions and processes.
Where Are Stars Born? Project PDF