Physics is considered by the general public to be something of a mysterious, esoteric discipline, loosely associated with applied mathematics. In reality, however, it is the most fundamental of the natural sciences, and permeates every aspect of our lives; indeed, many of the most spectacular achievements of humanity have been direct consequences of the study of physics. Since the origins of modern physics, mathematical and technological achievements have developed the language of physics into a universal medium for expressing theoretically our understanding of the whole range of natural phenomenal from the subatomic to the cosmological Most of the more recently established sciences are derived from physics, and the fundamentals of such fields as electronics, computer science, and engineering, can be expressed in terms of the laws and principles of physics. There is a mathematical side of physics; there is also, however an equally prominent experimental side, which makes the most significant contributions to technology. The technological applications develop because, in order to demonstrate a property of nature which has been detected mathematically by the theoreticians, experimental physicists adapt known methods for use in unfamiliar ways, or devise new techniques. The coming years will see an increasing need for qualified physicists, since focus over the last three decades has been on developing existing technologies and there are signs that further advancements of known technologies are being exhausted; today, the search for more fundamental discoveries is beginning again.