Introduction

Abstract

Physics is often believed to hold a privileged status among the sciences as the discipline that most closely seeks to understand fundamental reality. Historically, this search has revealed ever tinier building blocks from which the physical world is constructed. Atoms, once thought to be fundamental, have had to give way to a plethora of subatomic particles, including electrons, protons and neutrons, with the latter two entities being broken down further into constituent quarks. Debates rage over whether these too will eventually surrender to a description in terms of tiny vibrating strings.