In this paper we review some of the basic developments in the early stages of seismic soil structure interaction and some of the controversies that arose, particularly in relation to the seismic design of nuclear power plants. Because of the large number of contributions to this area during the 50 or 60 years considered, until the publication of the first book on this subject, it is not possible to include all of them and the selection reflects of course the bias of the author in what he considers to be the most important ones.