Stellar spectra contain a wealth of information, but they can be difficult to interpret due to modeling limitations. Over the past few years, a new technique that circumvents these limitations and allows astronomers to determine atmospheric parameters and elemental abundances of stars with unprecedented precision (~1%) has been developed by me and my collaborators. Using this technique, we have discovered that the Sun has a peculiar chemical composition, one which can be interpreted as a signature of the formation of the solar system. We can use this technique to infer the presence and bulk composition of planets around other stars. Moreover, it allows us to peer into the formation histories of stars and how they could affect planet formation. In addition to being useful for exoplanet research, these data sets are also well-suited for studies of nucleosynthesis and the chemical evolution of our Milky Way galaxy. In this talk I will describe the methods and key results that we have obtained using high-precision stellar spectroscopy.
