  The survey we are presenting is over 22 years old but it has still some ideas
which where never published (except in Polish). This survey is the base of the
third Chapter of my book: KNOTS: From combinatorics of knot diagrams to
combinatorial topology based on knots, which is still in preparation (but
compare http://arxiv.org/pdf/math.GT/0512630).
  The purpose of this survey is to present a new combinatorial method of
constructing invariants of isotopy classes of tame links. The period of time
between the spring of 1984 and the summer of 1985 was full of discoveries which
revolutionized the knot theory and will have a deep impact on some other
branches of mathematics. It started by the discovery of Jones of the new
polynomial invariant of links (in May 1984), and the last big step (which will
be described in this survey) has been made by Kauffman in August 1985 when
Kauffman applied his method which allowed him to unify almost all previous
work. This survey is far from being complete, even if we limit ourselves to the
purely combinatorial methods and to the period May, 1984 -- September, 1985.
