From Neutrinos to B quarks

Leon Lederman’s discoveries fundamentally changed our understanding of particle physics.  He began his career with the verification of parity violation in weak interactions (1956).  This was followed by the discovery of the muon neutrino (1962), establishing that there was more than one type of neutrino.  His observation of the bottom quark (1977) was the beginning of the concept of generations of fermions.  I will discuss how Lederman’s groundbreaking discoveries shaped the current standard model of particle physics.