Infinite variety

When I started working in middle school science, I realized my knowledge of physical science was, shall we say, a little oxidized (rusty). So I embarked upon a self education process that opened up a wonderful world, a world that makes use and even sense of chemistry. If, I wondered, there are only, say, thirty or forty elements that are involved in the formation of minerals, why are there thousands of these, if not millions? The answer is that the structure of elements, with their hyperactive electrons and their nuclear thirst for same, provides for an almost infinite number of combinations that are not only a function of these elements and their chemical properties but the circumstances under which the minerals (compounds, molecules) are formed (temperature, pressure, associated elements, time, etc.) It's like biological systems, which can form many thousands of proteins, each with a different function, out of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and hydrogen. Amazing but consistent with what nature does and is.