und Anwendungen in der modernen Astrophysik werden angedeutet. Diese schliessen ein die beschleunigte Expansion des Universums und die Kraftgleichung fuer die hoehere Ordnung der Gravitationseigenschaften der binaeren Pulsare. ______________________________________________________________________________ 1. Introduction Modern physics distinguishes amongst four fundamental forces, i.e., forces that act differently under different conditions. They are the forces of gravitation and electromagnetism, the nuclear force and the weak force. Physicists have been successful in devising a model that incorporates the latter three forces, but the incorporation of gravitation remains elusive. A plethora of theories has been developed over the past forty years to include gravity, with string theory as the most popular recent candidate.1 There are also supersymmetry and quantum gravity, but none of these models appear to be successful. There is a firm belief among physicists that a single model of forces should exist, and the pursuit of such a model has been described as a search for the Holy Grail of physics. This model should be a single consistent mathematical formulation giving the properties of the four fundamental forces. Such unification is desirable from a philosophical viewpoint. A fundamental tenet of mystical schools is that creation forms a unity, with the different forms the corporeal manifestations of a single, creative spirit. Our understanding of creation is driven by striving for such simplicity and beauty. Another fundamental principle of the mystical schools is that of As above, so below. Within a scientific context it implies that the very large should be reflected in the infinitesimally small. An example of this would be a model that describes both planetary motion and the motion of electrons in an atom. We approach the problem by starting with a model of gravitation. In a previous paper in this journal2 we presented a model, derived from Newtons ideas, which satisfies the three classical tests for a theory of gravitation. At this stage we need to clarify our use of the terms model and theory. By a model we understand the body of mathematics that describes a system, and by theory we also include the postulates and assumptions on which the mathematical body is constructed. A model is constructed from postulates, assumptions, and the appropriate mathematical tools, and yields specific results or predictions. A theory tells us how that model is constructed. Our paper is mainly descriptive and we shall limit its mathematics to an essential minimum. We shall avoid calculus where possible. The mathematical detail can be found in Ref. 3. However, no discussion on a unified theory can be sensible without some mathematics. As stated by Richard Feynman (1918-1988):4 People who wish to analyze nature without using mathematics must settle for a reduced understanding. For the scientist an elegant mathematical formulation represents its version of beauty. Correct mathematics is one of the requirements for a model of physics. The other requirements are valid postulates or presumptions, consistency of argument, and agreement with observation. We aver that the proposed model satisfies all these requirements. We must emphasize that our model is strictly based on standard, conventional physics, and specifically on the principles of Hamiltonian