A primer on the evolution of particle physics and the search for the fundamental building blocks of matter, written by a group of distinguished physicists. Book presents the material in a manner accessbile to a reader with a basic understanding of physics, and includes many illustrations, some in four color.

Inhalt

The November Revolution//The Elusive Trail to the Standard Model//The Mystery of Flavors//Carriers of Force//Anything That Can Happen, Will Happen//Precision Detectors Lead to Great Discoveries//Creating Extremely High-Energy Collisions//The Smallest and the Largest: Astrophysics Meets Particle Physics//The Status of the Standard Model// A Historical Perspective on Particle Physics// Appendix A: Physics Background and Numerical Examples// Appendix B: How Detectors Work//Appendix C: Suggested Reading//Appendix D: The Greek Alphabet//Appendix E: Glossary