This study examines the origins of the chemical elements which are the basic building blocks of ordinary matter. The text explores the factors controlling their widely differing abundances, and their distribution in the Earth, solar system and universe. The text begins with a broad introduction to the range of elements which exist and a consideration of some of their nuclear and chemical properties. An account of the origins of the elements in space is followed by a chapter on cosmochemistry and the solar system. Attention is then focused on the Earth and the distribution of elements on the planet's surface: in the minerals of the crust, in the ocean, and in living species.