Wouter J.M. Schmitz, born in 1970, studied physics in Amsterdam. He worked at CERN for an assignment at the Spin Muon Collaboration (SMC) and later as a summer student at a LEP experiment. He graduated at Nikhef Amsterdam in 1994. He has subsequently worked in IT and also holds an MBA degree. Today, Wouter works as a leading digital architect, retaining nonetheless a deep and informed interest in conceptual problems in physics.

Provides unique conceptual explanations of quantum field theory and the standard model of particle physics

Includes new material on quantum decoherence and its implications

Contains no math but full of insights into how the universe works

Introduction.- Particles or waves?.- Fields.- What is a particle if it is a wave?.- A matter of energy exchange.- A wave of relativity.- Quantization of fields.- Energy in waves and fields.- Symmetry and the origin of force.- Propagators and virtual particles.- Renormalisation of fearful infinities.- Spin makes up bosons and fermions.- Conservation of charge and particle number.- Particle zoo.- Electroweak force in the early universe.- The breaking of the world will never be the same.- The strong force: Quantum Chromo Dynamics.- Gravity as a field.- Further reading.- References and sources.