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The explanation of low-lying mathematical notions and theorems to a primary non-mathematical audience is a task which is by far non-trivial. Nevertheless, the physicist working in areas of theoretical physics as, e.g., elementary particles, relativity, and general field theories, needs a thorough knowledge of modern methods in topology and differential geometry. The authors intend to give an outline of classical and most recent developments in these topics. The book is divided in three major parts: I. Differential (i.e. differentiable) manifolds (including Riemannian geometry and complex manifolds), II. Global topological properties (homotopy theory, homology, de Rham cohomology, fibre bundles, connection and curvature, characteristic classes), III. Index theorems and 4-manifolds (including Donaldson's and Taubes' theorems). Even this very short survey shows the ambitious plans of the booklet. However, as there are a lot of undefined or incorrect defined notions, the reader will get no more than a diffuse understanding of the bulk of the material presented. There are some long calculations not really clarifying the point. In several cases, the assumptions made for calculations or definitions and proofs have to be extracted from the context. Nevertheless, the physicist may get a feeling for the importance of modern differential and algebraic topology for his field and will appreciate the though uncomplete but condensed presentation of a lot of its results.