All you ever were was a little bit of the universe thinking to itself. ( Iain Banks ) Someone studying atoms is just atoms trying to understand themselves. ( The Particle Adventure ) Fermions give rise to structure, they have stability and lead to life. We are formed from atoms that have existed for billions of years, it is only now that they are configured in combinations that think they are us. We breathe in oxygen, exhale carbon dioxide, grow and die, but our atoms will go on. Their basic pieces will recombine with infinite variety into the distant future.