One of the most powerful ideas of modern theoretical physics is the mechanism of spontaneous symmetry breaking. It is at the basis of most of the recent achievements in the description of phase transitions in Statistical Mechanics as well as of collective phenomena in solid state physics. It has also made possible the unification of weak, electromagnetic and strong interactions in elementary particle physics. Philosophically, the idea is very deep and subtle (this is probably why its exploitation is a rather recent achievement) and the popular accounts do not fully do justice to it.