Subatomic particles and atoms, conceptual illustration. RICHARD JONES/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
LOOK closely enough and almost everything we know of in the universe boils down to a handful of elementary particles. These entities constitute individual threads of the scientific masterpiece that is the standard model of particle physics, our current best picture of matter and its workings.
Its roots lay in the quantum revolution early in the 20th century, where the classical, common-sense notion that everything is predictable was unceremoniously thrown out. By contrast, the development of the standard model was anything but a revolution. Instead, it was more like the gradual forming of a new order, constructed piece by piece…
