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The exceptional interest in the new class of oxide superconductors and the importance of these materials are discussed together with the concepts that led to their discovery. The discovery itself and its early confirmation are summarized, including the work until the beginning of 1987. The observation of a superconductive glass state in percolative samples is also discussed.

La(2)CuO4-y ceramics containing a few percent of Ca(2+), Sr(2+), and Ba(2+) ions have been prepared. Resistivity and susceptibility measurements exhibit superconductive onsets (as in earlier Ba(2+)-containing samples). The onset temperature La(2)CuO4-y with Sr(2+) is higher and its superconductivity-induced diamagnetism larger than that found with Ba(2+) and Ca(2+). This is proof that the electronic change resulting from alkaline earthdoping, rather than the size effect, is responsible for superconductivity. The ionic radius of Sr(2+) is close to that of La(3+) for which it presumably substitutes.