The historical development of our understanding of the heliosphere is outlined with emphasis placed on early ideas, dating from about 1600 to the launch of the Voyager spacecraft in 1970s. At the present time we seem to be on the verge of penetrating the solar wind termination shock making such a retrospective view timely and interesting as an example of the manner in which astrophysical concepts and ideas gradually evolve. © 2004 American Institute of Physics