Published online by Cambridge University Press: 27 September 2007
Recent advances in the determination of stellar abundances and their impact on thestudy of nucleosynthesis and the chemical evolution of galaxies are discussed. It is argued thatdetailed interpretation of the abundance patterns among chemical elements foundat different metallicities still requires solid spectroscopic data. Despite current improvementsin abundance analyses, these are not, however, free from systematic errors which can hidethe real history of the chemical evolution. Some examples are discussed.