Abstract

Thirty years ago it was believed that all matter was built up from two fundamental building blocks—the proton and the electron. Now, however, it is known that at least twenty–two other elementary particles also exist in nature—a fact which explains the emergence of a whole new branch of theoretical physics, the theory of elementary particles. As is often the case with new branches of study, the early works on this subject have been rather too specialised for the beginner and so this book by Dr. McConnell, Professor of Mathematical Physics at Maynooth, is a timely one.