Ellipsometry and reflection polarimetry are almost synonymous. Therefore it is not surprising that ellipsometry and polarimetry share a common history which is that of optical polarization. The discoveries in the late 1600s by Bartholinus and Huyghens of double refraction by Iceland spar and the unusual properties of the twin beams thus generated presented insurmountable difficulties for the entrenched corpuscular-ray theory of Newton and caused research on polarization to remain stagnant in the 1700s. Major breakthroughs came in the early 1800s when Malus discovered polarization of light by reflection and his cosine-squared law and Fresnel and Arago enunciated their laws of interference of polarized light that helped establish the transverse vector nature of luminous vibrations. Important further research immediately followed on optical rotatory power by Arago. Biot, and Pasteur that ushered fundamental and practical applications of polarimetry in chemistry and biology. Fresnel deserves to be recognized as a founder of ellipsometry by virtue of his laws of reflection of polarized light at interfaces between dissimilar media and his identification and production of circular and elliptical polarization. The later part of the 19th century witnessed significant discoveries of magneto-optic and electro-optic effects by Faraday. Kerr, and Pockels that greatly enriched polarization optics and physics. The 1896 discovery of the Zeeman effect launched the exciting field of solar polarimetiy. The 1864 crown achievement of Maxwell's electromagnetic (EM) theory provided a unified framework for the analysis of polarization phenomena across the entire EM spectrum. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.