Symmetry breaking and the Scalar boson: Evolving perspectives

The mechanism extending spontaneous symmetry breaking to gauge fields had a considerable impact on both theoretical and experimental elementary particle physics. It is corroborated by the discovery of the Z and the W, and by the precision electroweak tests. A detection of its Scalar boson(s) would not only constitute a direct verification of the mechanism, but knowledge of its couplings to known particles could pave the way to the world hitherto hidden beyond the Standard Model. These topics are discussed with emphasis on conceptual issues.