By means of chemical abundances of stars at the solar neighborhood, we
attempt to reconstruct the star
formation history of the Milky Way over the last 13 Gyr. We are able to
identify key features in the star
formation history of the Galaxy using a best-fit SFR, particularly an
initial starburst at very early times and a
distinct dip in the rate of star formation after several Gyr. We explore
how different star formation histories
impact on the chemical signatures of stars of different ages. We also note
the importance of choosing the correct
theoretical yields in order to fit the data well.