  This paper analyzes the effective field theory perspective on modern physics
through the lens of the quantum theory of gravitational interaction. The
historical part argues that the search for a theory of quantum gravity
stimulated the change in outlook that characterizes the modern approach to the
Standard Model of particle physics and General Relativity. We present some
landmarks covering a long period, i.e., from the beginning of the 1930s until
1994, when, according to Steven Weinberg, the modern bottom-up approach to
General Relativity began. Starting from the first attempt to apply the quantum
field theory techniques to perturbatively quantize Einstein's theory, we
explore its developments and interaction with the top-down approach encoded by
String Theory. In the last part of the paper, we focus on this last approach to
describe the relationship between our modern understanding of String Theory and
Effective Field Theory in today's panorama. To this end, the non-historical
part briefly explains the modern concepts of moduli stabilization and Swampland
to understand another change in focus that explains the present framework where
some string theorists move.
