Oxygen—Abundant and Essential

Abstract

Oxygen is colorless, odorless, tasteless, aggressive, necessary for human life, and provides protection from the sun; it is the most abundant element in Earth's crust and makes up approximately two-thirds of the human body by mass. This essential element was the focus of Oxygen, a public symposium held at the University of Wisconsin—Madison. The symposium included eight presentations on topics related to oxygen; those presentations are synopsized in this article.