The article is devoted to the role and achievements of the science school of compressor engineering, established at the Leningrad Polytechnic Institute (now St. Petersburg polytechnic university of Peter the Great) by a prominent scientist, K.P. Seleznev. Now, this direction is being developed at the Gas Dynamics Laboratory of Turbomachines at SPbPU under the supervision of Professor Yury Borisovich Galerkin. The article is introductory to the selection in the same issue of the journal a collection of works by laboratory staff, their fellow scientists from other organizations, as well as industry workers presenting a modern picture of research on compressor technology.