In this "Cook¿s Tour" of developments in physics and realted fields, D. Allan Bromley, Science Advisor to President Bush during 1989-1983 and past president of the American Physical Society, conveys much of the excitement and wonder that research in physics generated in the 20th century and asks what new things are in store in the next century.

In this "Cook's Tour" of developments in physics and realted fields, D. Allan Bromley, Science Advisor to President Bush during 1989-1983 and past president of the American Physical Society, conveys much of the excitement and wonder that research in physics generated in the 20th century and asks what new things are in store in the next century.

PART 1: An Historical Overview, 1900-1949Introduction / What is Physics? / The Early 20th Century / Activities in the Cambridge Cavendish Laboratory / The Development of Quantum Mechanics / 1932--Annus Mirabilis / The Discovery of Nuclear Fission / The Manhattan Project / The MIT Radiation Laboratory / The Merger of Natural Philosophy and Invention / Physics in the 1930's / The Immediate Post-War Period.PART 2: The Explosive Growth of Post-War Physics, 1950-1999Introduction / Materials Science / Superconductivity / Buckyballs and Nanotubes / Surface Science / Fluid Physics / Self-Similarity / Development of the Transistor / The Evolution of Computers / Breakthroughs in Communications / Computational Chemistry / Folding of Proteins / Photon Probes / Improved Resolution and Higher Precision / Trapping and Cooling of Elementary Particles and Atoms / Bose-Einstein Condensates / Frontiers of Nuclear Structure Physics / The Phase Diagram of Nuclear Matter / Atomic and Nuclear Technology in Biology & Medicine / The Merging of Elementary Particle Physics & Cosmology / The Standard Model / The Building Blocks of Nature / String Theory / Plasma Physics / Plate Tectonics in Geophysics / The Structure of Supernovae / Gravitational Radiation / The Evolution of Our Universe / The COBE Measurements on the CMB / The Inflationary Universe / The Structure of the Milky Way Galaxy / The Gross Structure of Our Universe / Gravitational Lensing / Concluding Remarks