A fascinating account of the theoretical ideas behind supersymmetry...told by someone who has contributed deeply to the development of the field. - Nature For most of human history, man has been trying to discover just how the universe works. In this ground-breaking work, renowned physicist Gordon Kane first gives us the basics of the Standard Model, which describes the fundamental constituents and forces of nature. He then explains the next great leap in understanding: the theory of supersymmetry, which implies that each of the fundamental particles has a superpartner that can be detected at energies and intensities only now being achieved in the giant accelerators. If Kane and his colleagues are correct, these superpartners will also help solve many of the puzzles of modern physics-such as the existence of the Higgs boson-as well as one of the biggest mysteries is cosmology: the notorious dark matter of the universe.