  We present a primer on the Standard Model of the electroweak interaction.
Emphasis is given to the historical aspects of the theory's formulation. The
radiative corrections to the Standard Model are presented and its predictions
for the electroweak parameters are compared with the precise experimental data
obtained at the Z pole. Finally, we make some remarks on the perspectives for
the discovery of the Higgs boson, the most important challenge of the Standard
Model.
