  An introductory review of the early evolution of the Universe relevant to the
primordial synthesis of the light nuclides deuterium, helium-3, helium-4 and
lithium-7. The predictions of the element abundances in the "standard", hot,
big bang cosmological model (SBBN) are described. After descriptions of the
evolution of the primordial abundances from "there and then" to "here and now",
the SBBN predictions are compared to current observational data. The
implications for the standard model and for physics beyond the standard model
are discussed.
