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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 August 2017
The methods by which abundance analyses can be undertaken, especially with the growing use of high quantum efficiency digital detectors, are reviewed. The importance of the differential curve of growth technique is discussed, followed by a review of some recent results involving both late-type dwarf and giant stars. These include (1) the F and G dwarf abundance analyses of the elements sodium through nickel, which show an important differentiation between stars belonging to the young and old disk populations, (2) the possibility that departures from local thermodynamic equilibrium can effect sodium and aluminium abundances in late-type giants and supergiants and (3) that significant differences exist between the abundances of carbon, nitrogen and oxygen in old disk and young disk giant stars. Finally, the implications of these abundances in terms of stellar and galactic evolution are briefly addressed.