Book excerpt: This book is the second part of the two-volume set entitled The Big and the Small. In the earlier volume, Journey into the Microcosm: the Story of Elementary Particles, the story of elementary particle physics was related. In the present volume the author describes how the physics of elementary particles allow us to reconstruct the origin of the universe and its subsequent evolution. Carrying on from the point where volume 1 was concluded, the story of the fascinating quest for the Ultimate Theory (the theory that stands all by itself and does not rest on any other pedestal) is revealed here in the context of the shortcomings of the Standard Model.