BOOK REVIEW New Physics Paul Davies (ed.), The New Physics, Cambridge University Press, 1989, Price £ 30, pp. 516. During the course of human history, man's involvement with his environment, has led to the quest to determine the ultimate building blocks of the physical world. What remained in the realm of speculative theorisation with Leuccipus and Democritus—that all matter consists of a small number of truly elementary particles—has acquired a scientific foundation in our times in the discipline of Elementary Particle Physics. The study of the ultin^ate constituents of matter and the laws of their combination, i.e. the study of very small things or the micro-world is the domain of this discipline. The views of the nature of the origin of the universe, the evolution of stars and galaxies, etc., have generated a lot of controversy in the history of human thought. The study of the very large of things comes under cosmology. Till very recently the cosmologist and the particle physicist seemed to have no common concerns. In recent decades, particularly the last one, the two extremes have found inextricable links. Based on the tenet of modern science that laws of physics discovered on Earth apply all over the universe, leads to a study of the properties of micro-particles, of the birth, motion and properties of stars. Conversely, the observed properties of the universe reveal a great deal about particle physics. For instance, the simple fact that the universe has not collapsed under its own gravity tells us that neutrinos, the most abundant particles, must be exceedingly light, if not all together mass-less. This has prompted a physicist to comment, 'The more we leam of the cosmos, the more we understand particle physics and vice-versa. The ladder of science is closing upon itself to become a snake consuming its own tail: Ouroboros, the alchemist's symbol of eternity.' (Sheldon Glashow) The image of 'science closing upon itself underlines the quest for determining a few basic laws and theories in terms of which the entire working of the universe—from the very small, to the very large and the very complex—the three frontier areas of physics—could be understood. The story and various facets of this fascinating quest are the subject matter of the volume under review. The articles contributed by eminent physicists provide an authentic account of the current state of