When was Asymptotic Freedom discovered? or The Rehabilitation of Quantum Field Theory

Abstract

We glance back at the short period of the great discoveries between 1970 and 1974 that led to the restablishment of Quantum Field Theory and the discovery of the Standard Model of Elementary Particles, in particular Quantum Chromodynamics, and ask ourselves where we stand now.Comment: small but important corrections were made as a response to several reactions. Minor typos corrected. 17 pages plain TeX, 4 figures PostScrip