S N Ganguli, an experimental high energy physicist, retired last year from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai. He participated in the LHC experiment at CERN, Geneva. He studied properties of Z and W bosons produced in electron-positron collisions at the Large Electron Positron Collider, also at CERN. He now lives in Pondicherry.

The elusive neutrinos have periodically yielded their secrets to man and at each such juncture major advances have been achieved in our understanding of the sub-atomic phenomena. These particles also carry invaluable information about the centre of the Sun where energy is generated through nuclear fusion. In Part I of this article, history of the discovery of neutrinos is traced, their properties and types are described. Also, the Standard Model which forms the basis of the structure of matter and of which massless neutrinos are an integral part, is described.

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Address for Correspondence

S N Ganguli
Aspiration Apts
32, Francois Martin Street
Kuruchikuppam
Pondicherry 605 012, India.
Email: snganguli@vsnl.net