Chapter 4 summary and reflection

In chapter 4, the author talks about the many theories of where elements come from. Kean starts with the big bang theory and how all elements came to be when the speck of all matter ejected everythign in the big bang. There is confusion that revolves around the big bang and it revolves around stars. The confusion was about why young stars have only helium and hydrogen while older stars had dozens of elements. Another cause for confusion was the fact that certain elements were only available in certain stars and not on Earth.

The author goes on to explain the famous 1957 paper called B2FH that explains stars and their elements. After explaining this very complicated paper, Kean explains supernovae and the possible explanation of our solar system. Kean explains how the gas giants were formed and how the rocky planets were formed. Kean then explains Jupiter and its plausible possibilities because of the elements available on the gas giant. The author then explains Earth and its elements in a detailed way.

This chapter was very interesting and yet somewhat confusing. The theories about the universe, planets, and stars was very informational and somewhat mind blowing. The possibilities that may be found on Jupiter was something that would be nothing short of a sci-fi film. Many of the theories that have been going on for years would make a great sci-fi movie and that's what made this chapter intresting. I had already known about the big bang theory but this chapter gave me opportunities to learn information about stars that I hadn't known before like the differences between young and old stars.