In the field of particle astrophysics: The greatest advance in our understanding of how the world works is the discovery of quantum field theory carried out in the 1920-50 epoch. This is closely followed by the General Theory of Relativity.

As one progresses in early school, one begins to have a sense of how science works, how it seeks for reasons, for basic laws and soon (age 12-15) a light begins to glow - science, knowledge of the world, is exciting, fun and certainly inspiring.

Leon M Lederman is Pritzker professor of science at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, resident scholar at the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy (IMSA), Aurora, IL, former director of the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and joint recipient of the Nobel Prize in physics for his work on elementary particles and forces.