The first printing of this book in 1982 was followed by a reprint with corrections, which is the text reissued here. During the intervening year, 1983, the discoveries of the W± and Z0 were announced, as recorded in footnotes on pages 4 and 110. The discovery of the top quark came twelve years later, completing the third family. Of the particles expected in 1984, only the Higgs boson has so far eluded detection. Despite this notable absentee, there is – remarkably – still no conclusive quantitative discrepancy between experiment and the predictions of the Standard Model of particle physics, based on the gauge group SU(3) × SU(2) × U(l) and a single Higgs doublet, as outlined here.

The opportunity has been taken here to make some further corrections for the paperback reissue. I am extremely grateful to Dr. George Emmons for essential help with this.