The deepest visible-light image of the universe, the Hubb le Ultra Deep FieldSince antiquity, natural philosophers have sought to explain phy sical phenomena such as the movement of the planets and the nature of matter, and this pursuit was formerly the study known as "physics" (once spelled physike, in imitation of Aristotle). The emergence of modern physics as a science distinct from natural philosophy began with the scientific revolution of the 16th and 17th c enturies and continued through the dawn of modern physics in the ea rly 20th century. The field has continued to exp and, with a growing body of research leadin to discoveries such a s the Standard Model of fundamental particles and a detaile d history of the universe, along with revolutionary new technologies like nuclear weapons and semic onductors. Research today progresses on a vast ar ray of topics, including high-temperature superconductivity, quantum computing, the search for the Higgs boson, and the a ttempt to develop a theory of quantum gravity. Firmly ground ed in observations and experiments, with a rich s et of theories expressed in elegant mathematics, physics has made a multitude of contributions t o science, technology, and philosophy.