The Standard Model of matter and its space-time and quantum foundations emerged during the twentieth century in response to a mounting accumulation of empirical evidence. Crucial experiments led to ideas that were refined by ingenious men and women into a logical pattern. Nature, of course, carries this pattern in her bones. Astronomical observations during the past half-century have convinced most scientists that the Nature we can see today is the result of the grandest experiment of all, the very origin and evolution of the universe. It appears as if Nature blazed forth at the beginning of time in the perfect embodiment of a Platonic form only to clothe herself immediately with obscuring veils. The Standard Model is a remnant of that ideal form, but we have been able to piece together at least part of the grand epic of its evolution.