Earth’s most common element by mass, iron has been employed since antiquity to create tools, weapons, and works of art. Join master blacksmith James Austin to explore iron’s historical importance and amazing metallurgical properties—as well as the air of mystery surrounding the blacksmithing trade.

James Austin left the graduate school of chemistry at UC Berkeley in 1982 to pursue his love of traditional handwork as a blacksmith in Bavaria. After a 6-year apprenticeship, Austin established his own studio in San Francisco. Now located in Oakland, he continues to focus on skilled blacksmithing and conveying its beauty and importance to following generations.

In the spirit of amplifying the Black Lives Matter movement and to avoid any appearance of having appropriated that title, our series of talks formerly called Everything Matters: Tales from the Periodic Table will now be called, simply, Tales from the Periodic Table. Please excuse the former title on videos made in the past.