The solar atmosphere is a highly ionized medium which is the playground of magnetic fields. In the deepest layer (the photosphere), magnetic fields disturb the 'normal' fluid motions forcing the plasma to behave incounterintuitive ways; in the outer layers (the chromosphere and the corona) magnetic fields rule, making the plasma levitate or even ejecting it out of the gravitational well of the Sun, with important consequences for us here on Earth. However, magnetic fields are elusive. The only quantitative evidence of their presence is through the polarization state of the light emitted by the plasma they are playing with. Remote sensing of magnetic fields from 150 million km away through spectropolarimetry is a challenge on applied physics as well as an art. It requires the application of quantum mechanics, radiative transfer theory, and advanced optics to the interpretation and analysis of spectropolarimetric observations. I will review standard diagnostic techniques and recent developments on this field. I will discuss their limitations and how to overcome them through the complementary aspects of different diagnostic techniques, spectral regions, and statistical analysis. Finally, I will review what are the main areas for progress in this regard: most notably, the 'measurement' of magnetic fields in the extremely dilute and weakly magnetized outer layers of the sun.