This book gives a broad synthesis of conceptual developments of twentieth-century field theories, from the general theory of relativity to quantum field theory and gauge theory. The author gives a historico-critical exposition of the conceptual foundations of the theories revealing a pattern to the evolution of these conceptions. Theoretical physicists and students of theoretical physics will find in this book an account of the foundational problems of their discipline that will help them understand the internal logic and dynamics of their subject. In addition the book will provide professional historians and philosophers of science, and especially philosophers of physics, with a conceptual basis for further historical, cultural and sociological analysis of the theories discussed. The book also contains much material for philosophical (metaphysical, methodological and semantical) reflection. Finally, the scientifically qualified general reader will find in this book a deeper analysis of contemporary conceptions of the physical world than can be found in popular accounts of the subject.

曹天予（1941- ），劍橋大學科學史和科學哲學博士，美國波士頓大學哲學係教授。曾是英國劍橋大學三一學院和牛津大學萬靈學院的研究員；並在美國哈佛大學、麻省理工學院和倫敦經濟學院做過訪問研究；史密森學會的高級研究員，普林斯頓高等研究院自然科學院和史學院的成員。主要研究方嚮為當代理論物理學中的概念問題及其曆史演變。發錶論文50多篇，並編有《量子場論的概念基礎》（劍橋大學齣版社，1999年）和第20屆世界哲學大會會議文集中的第10捲《科學哲學》（哲學文獻齣版社，2001年）。