Within the opening decades of the Twentieth Century, our understanding of the Universe was radically and profoundly changed. 在此期间, increasingly precise measurements of phenomena occurring at high speeds precipitated a radical revision in our conception of the nature of space and time which is encapsulated in the principles of special 相对论. 同时, experiments which probed shorter and shorter distance scales illuminated the structure of the atom and the properties of even more basic building blocks of matter. 更重要的是, these experiments revealed that at the most fundamental level, these building blocks behave according to the bizarre and often counterintuitive principles of 量子力学. 在本课程中, we will focus on these “modern” developments in physics – including special 相对论, 量子力学, 核物理, 固体物理, and the physics of elementary particles – which transcend the “classical” physics of the previous era. 一路走来, we will grapple with quantum uncertainty, discover why Einstein's famous relation E = mc^2 is really so important, and investigate why chemical bonds form. 没有例外, none of these developments was the result of a single scientist working in isolation, but rather the product of a community of physicists – in conjunction with chemists, 数学家, and astronomers – who were influenced by each others' work and who interacted in ways very similar to the way physicists interact today. Out of these interactions emerged a coherent theoretical picture which has been robustly confirmed by experiment. 然而, it's easy to forget that during the period in which this picture was being developed, 事情远没有条理! 事实上, 在本课程中, you will not only learn the physical principles underlying 量子力学, 相对论, and the other topics we'll be covering (and have a chance to confirm some of them experimentally), 但一路走来, you'll also get a glimpse of how this body of scientific knowledge was formed – complete with its controversies, 错误的开始, and perplexing experimental surprises.