What is the importance of the stars in the book, The Disappearing Spoon?

Kean writes in detail about the important and essential role stars play in the creation of elements, and therefore in the nature of the universe as we know it. Stars heat themselves by fusing hydrogen to form helium and, over time, they also create other elements including lithium, boron, beryllium, carbon, and magnesium, all the way up to iron. The rest of the elements from cobalt to uranium are formed when a star dies and creates a supernova. As the elements are the foundational components of all life, stars, in their life and death, are essential for the creation of life itself. Our own solar system was created by a supernova that occurred approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The importance of stars to the periodic table of elements illustrates the connections between chemistry, physics, and astronomy.