All the other elements in the universe are made ultimatelyfrom hydrogen by nuclear fusion. Nuclear fusion is a difficultprocess which occurs in the intensely hot conditions of the interiorsof stars (and in hydrogen bombs). Relatively small stars, such asour sun, can make only light elements such as helium, the secondlightest in the periodic table after hydrogen. It takes larger andhotter stars to develop the high temperatures needed to forge mostof the heavier elements, in a cascade of nuclear fusion processeswhose details were worked out by Fred Hoyle and two colleagues(an achievement for which, mysteriously, Hoyle was not given ashare of the Nobel Prize received by the others). These big starsmay explode as supernovas, scattering their materials, including theelements of the periodic table, in dust clouds. These dust cloudseventually condense to form new stars and planets,

The God Delusion On page 143 Monday, November 5, 2012 @ 1:54pm