- Published: November 17, 2021
- Updated: November 17, 2021
- University / College: New York University (NYU)
- Level: Intermediate School
- Language: English
- Downloads: 33
The paper ” We Are Made of Star Stuff” ” is a good example of an assignment on environmental studies. According to the eminent American astronomer and Carl Edward Sagan (1934-1996), every living and non-living thing in this universe is made out of the same atomic presence. As he states, “ in order to understand the present, we must know the past”. The ‘ past’ possibly was associated with subsequent effects of the immense explosion of a huge star or ‘ the Big Bang.’ According to his theory, all atoms were created at the interior of the giant star and were expelled into space. Furthermore, these atoms were incorporated into the later stars. In other words, the atoms of all sorts had been created by some fusion inside the core of the star which latter resulted in the great explosion.
He suggests that ‘ we are star stuff’ because the human body, like any other material, has a strong atomic connection with the rest of the universe. “ All of the rocky and metallic material we stand on, the iron in our blood, the calcium in our teeth, the carbon in our genes were produced billions of years ago in the interior of a red giant star” (Sagan, 2000, p. 190). According to him, this process still continues at immense intervals and our Sun is probably a second or third generation star. It has been discovered that stars are blowing off huge quantities of elements like silicates, rock powder, and graphite particles into their surrounding space. It might have led to the formation of the later stars and planets.
To sum up, it is true that we have close atomic and molecular connection with the other elements of the universe. Therefore as Sagan believes, all compounds of our bodies can be the remnants of some exploding stars.