Colloids play such an important role in life (indeed, it can be said without exaggeration that up to 90% of the bodies around us are colloids), that it is not surprising if even in the most distant eras we discover familiarity with the processes occurring in colloidal systems. My task is to outline the development of colloidal chemistry and the currently dominant views in it, and in view of the abundance of material I will have to dwell only on the most prominent places.