This article gives an elementary review of gravitational collapse and the c
osmic censorship hypothesis. Known models of collapse resulting in the form
ation of black holes and naked singularities are summarized. These models,
when taken together, suggest that the censorship hypothesis may not hold in
classical general relativity. The nature of the quantum processes that tak
e place near a naked singularity, and their possible implication for observ
ations, is briefly discussed.