Contents -- Preface -- 1. The hubris of classical physics -- 1.1 Explaining nature: Apples and the moon -- 1.2 More laws of classical physics -- 1.3 Laws of physics in moving cars -- 1.4 Heat as a form of motion -- 1.5 Entropy: A new beast -- 1.6 A peep ahead: Where did it go wrong? -- 2. And then there was Einstein -- 2.1 Something crazy about light -- 2.2 Time and its flow -- 2.3 Relativity in action -- 2.4 Principle of equivalence -- 2.5 Gravity and light: More amazing consequences -- 2.6 Gravity and the universe -- 2.7 The odd man out -- 3. Madness of the micro-world -- 3.1 Waves -- 3.2 Electron: Wave or particle? -- 3.3 Things are quantized! -- 3.4 Spin and the social behaviour of particles -- 3.5 Interaction of matter and radiation -- 3.6 The atomic nuclei -- 3.7 Quantum states of cats and other conceptual issues -- 4. Particles, particles everywhere -- 4.1 Adding relativity to quantum theory -- 4.2 The particle zoo -- 4.2.1 Leptons and quarks -- 4.3 Quantum electrodynamics: A prototype model -- 4.4 Weak and strong interactions -- 4.5 The secret life of the vacuum -- 5. Cosmos and the quantum -- 5.1 Structure of the universe -- 5.2 Thermal history of the universe -- 5.3 Very early universe -- 5.4 Inflation -- 5.5 Dark matter -- 5.6 Structure formation -- 5.7 Ripples in radiation -- 5.8 Dark energy -- 6. Matters of gravity -- 6.1 This peculiar thing called gravity -- 6.2 Particles from the vacuum -- 6.3 Horizon, entropy and temperature -- 6.4 Gravity as an emergent phenomenon -- 6.5 Black holes, singularity and the information -- 7. In the beginning . -- 7.1 But, how did it all begin? -- 7.1.1 Chemical elements -- 7.1.2 Galaxies and stars -- 7.2 The origin of initial perturbation -- 7.3 Quantum cosmology -- 7.4 Cosmogenesis -- Index.