Thelastfewdecadeshaveseenmajoradvancesinthephysicsofelementaryparticles.Newgenerationsofparticleacceleratorsanddetectorshavecomeintooperation,andhavesuccessfullycontributedtoimprovingthequantityandqualityofdataondiverseinteractionprocessesandtothediscoveriesofwholenewfamiliesofparticles.Atthesametime,importantnewideashaveemergedinquantumfieldtheory,culminatinginthedevelopmentsoftheoriesfortheweakandstronginteractionstocomplementquantumelectrodynam-ics,thetheoryoftheelectromagneticforce.Thesimplestofthenewtheoriesthatareatthesametimemathematicallyconsistentandphysicallysuccessfulconstitutewhatisknownasthestandardmodelofthefundamentalinterac-tions.Thisbookisanattempttopresenttheseremarkableadvancesatanelementarylevel,makingthemaccessibletostudentsfamiliarwithquantummechanics,specialrelativity,andclassicalelectrodynamics.