For over two thousand years people have thought about the fundamental particles from which all matter is made, starting with early philosophical thoughts [local] about indivisibility, then the gradual development of atomic theory, [local] followed by a deeper understanding of the quantized atom, leading to the recent theory of the Standard Model [local]. The standard model suggests a vast number of fundamental particles.
Important historical papers concerning atomic structure and the fundamental atomic particles.
Much of what the human species knows about the atomic world was discovered during the period of time leading up to the Second World War. During this time period the Americans and Germans were in a race to develop the first atomic weapon. Many lessons [local] have been learned following the atomic bombs that ended the Second World War. The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki represent to many the longest radiation study [local].
