A century superconductivity, half a century BCS theory and quarter of century high temperature superconductivity (HTSC) – with increasing speed these epochs mark the development of the physics. The development of ideas in the physics of superconductivity and some crucial experiments are briefly reviewed. As a coherent quantum phenomenon from the very beginning the physics of superconductivity have attracted the attention of the creators of the quantum mechanics. The delayed microscopic BCS explanation demonstrated no lack of interest but the difficulty of the problem. The discovery of high temperature superconductivity quarter of century ago set the beginning of the next great epoch, which again concentrated the efforts of the best theorists. Some key moment of the discoveries are pointed out and a short perspective for technical applications is evaluated

Key Words: superconductivity, BCS theory, high, temperature