We're living in the midst of a scientific revolution that's captured the general public's attention and imagination. The aim of this new revolution is to develop a "theory of everything," a set of laws of physics that will explain all that can be explained, ranging from the tiniest subatomic particle to the universe as a whole. Here, listeners will learn the ideas behind the theories and their effects upon our world, our civilization, and ourselves.

GEORGE MUSSER is a staff editor and writer for Scientific American magazine. He did his undergraduate studies in electrical engineering and mathematics at Brown University and his graduate studies in planetary science at Cornell University, where he was a National Science Foundation graduate fellow. He served as editor of Mercury magazine and of the Universe in the Classroom tutorial series at the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, a science and science-education nonprofit based in San Francisco. He edited articles for such anthologies as The Best American Science Writing and The Best American Science & Nature Writing.