50 years of spin glass theory

In 1975, two papers were published that together sparked major new directions, conceptual, mathematical and practically applicable, in several previously disparate fields of science. In this short review, we expose key aspects of their thinking, implementations and implications, along with a selection of further crucial and consequential developments. These papers were Theory of spin glasses' by S.F.Edwards and P.W.Anderson (EA)[1] and Solvable Model of a Spin-Glass’, by D.Sherrington and S.Kirkpatrick (SK)[2], both concerned with trying to understand recent experiments that suggested a new phase of matter.