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Bill Adair was 19 when he opened the dusty box. He looked at the gold foil inside. One touch, and he caught gold fever. It changed him forever. Gold became his life's work.

Gold is the metal that changed Adair's life. It formed deep in Earth long ago. Scientists think volcanoes heated underground water. The hot water melted the gold. Liquid gold then flowed with the water into cracks between rocks. The shiny metal cooled and hardened, forming veins of gold. In some places, they reached near Earth's surface.

Rivers streamed over the rocky surface, wearing it away. Over time, the gold showed through. Gold nuggets broke loose. They sat in the stream, until they were discovered.

The Egyptians caught gold fever about 5,000 years ago. Since then, gold has been found in many places. Each time, the fever grows. Let's look at some golden times in history.

Egypt, 3,000 B.C. The pharaohs, or kings, of Egypt loved gold. They wore golden crowns and jewelry. They ruled from golden thrones. Their mummies wore masks of gold. Soon, gold became harder to find.

The pharaohs captured slaves to mine gold for them. Deep in Earth, the miners cracked rocks with fire. Poisonous gas filled the air. Miners lay on their backs under falling rocks. The rocks often crushed them. Many slaves died mining gold.

Egypt traded gold for things from other countries. Trade routes stretched from Egypt to China. When people traveled the trade routes, they spread gold fever.

Turkey, 560 B.C. King Croesus ruled ancient Lydia, now in Turkey. He had the idea to mint, or make, coins. Gold was a great metal to use. It lasts a long time. Its rare, so it's worth a lot. It is soft enough to form into shapes.

People made gold coins that were the same size, weight, and value. This made buying and selling things easier. The idea of gold coins spread around the world, bringing gold fever with it.

Colombia, 1500s In the 1500s, word of a ceremony spread across Europe. In South America, a king stands on a raft. He is covered in gold dust. He drops piles of gold into the lake to please his god.

People asked: Did the golden king have a golden city? The story grew. People named the city El Dorado. Spanish explorers went to South America to search for the city. They never found it. Yet they did find gold. They killed many people to get it.

The Sun King was an Inca leader. In 1532, a Spanish gold hunter found the king's city. His soldiers shot 2,000 men and captured the Sun King. The gold hunter promised to free the king for a roomful of gold. He got his gold but killed the king anyway. Some people would do anything for gold.

California, 1848 In 1848, a man found gold in California. The news spread. Thousands of Americans dropped everything and went west to search for gold. It wasn't easy. Many got sick. Some found gold. Others did not. But the gold hunters kept coming.

Worldwide, 2009 Today, finding gold is harder than ever. Miners sometimes have to dig 30 tons of rock just to find enough gold for one ring! That leaves huge holes in the ground. To get gold from rocks, many miners use a poisonous metal called mercury. It can make people sick. It can also harm the environment. Even so, people use more gold than ever before.

Today, it is used for more than jewelry. It is used in computers and cell phones. Astronauts wear visors coated with gold. It protects them from the sun's rays. Someday, gold might even fight cancer.

Thousands of years separate the pharaohs from today's scientists, and artists, like Bill Adair. Yet one thing unites them all: gold fever.

Article by Ruth Kassinger. Top-of-page photograph from the National Museum of Afghanistan/© Musée Guimet/Thierry Ollivier. "Gold Fever" appears on page 8 of the Jan.-Feb. 2009 issue.