In recent years, there has been an increasing realisation that there are important areas of 'common ground' between modern particle physics and high-energy astrophysics. This book provides a much needed, readable yet comprehensive overview of particle physics, and emphasises the close links between particle physics and cosmology. Beginning with some basic facts about the observable universe, the authors consider, in successive chapters, special and general relativity, gravitational lenses, cosmological models, particles and fields, thermodynamics and phase transitions in the early universe. The cosmic microwave background, structure formation and dark matter, the inflationary universe, gamma rays, cosmic rays, neutrinos and gravitational wave detectors are then discussed. Recent discoveries, such as neutrino mass and oscillations, and measurements of the universe using supernovae, are treated in a pedagogical and non-technical manner. A feature of this book is that it is 'self-contained, in that no specialised knowledge is required on the part of the reader except basic undergraduate mathematics and physics. In addition to the more descriptive sections where the reader is able to get the 'flavour' of the subject without needing to follow every step involved, some chapters contain optional, more technical parts which may be skipped by less advanced readers. By combining the expertise of both a leading experimentalist and foremost theorist, this book includes important aspects of both observational cosmology as well as more theoretical concepts.Eine in sich geschlossene Einführung in ein sich rapide entwickelndes Gebiet der Physik und Astronomie. Als Lehrbuch konzipiert, sind spezielle Vorkenntnisse, außer in grundlegender Mathematik und Physik, nicht erforderlich. Anschaulich gezeigt wird, wie Erkenntnisse der Teilchenphysik Kosmologen und Astrophysikern bei der Erklärung grundlegender Prozesse des Universums, beispielsweise der Ereignisse unmittelbar nach dem Urknall, helfen können.