“A Brief History of Particle Physics: Electron to Higgs Boson”

This presentation, aimed at a general audience, will be a guided tour through the history of particle physics, starting with the discovery of the electron in 1897 up to the recent discovery of the Higgs Boson.  The talk will be a qualitative and schematic discussion (mathematics kept to a minimum) emphasizing only the main and simplest ideas in the exciting history of particle physics. The so-called “Standard Model” will be introduced with an emphasis on the role the Higgs Field plays in providing mass to the fundamental particles that have been discovered.