Standard Model: an Introduction *

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. To be published in Particle and Fields, Proceedings of the X J. A. Swieca Summer School (World Scientific, Singapore, 2000)