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The field of crystal growth has a long and distinguished history. Much of today's advanced technologies and scientific knowledge is due to the availability of high-quality single crystals. These crystals (both in bulk and thin film form) can be made from a variety of different chemical compositions (elements to complex compounds) and are application driven. To produce a crystal for a particular application (composition, size, uniformity, etc.), the crystal grower relies on knowledge from various fields such as chemistry, physics, crystallography and mathematics. This historical introduction records the evolution of the field, both with respect to the basic knowledge that has been developed to elucidate the mechanisms involved in the crystallization process, as well as the development of a variety of novel techniques for the preparation of these crystals.