  Analogue gravity is a research programme which investigates analogues of
general relativistic gravitational fields within other physical systems,
typically but not exclusively condensed matter systems, with the aim of gaining
new insights into their corresponding problems. Analogue models of (and for)
gravity have a long and distinguished history dating back to the earliest years
of general relativity. In this review article we will discuss the history,
aims, results, and future prospects for the various analogue models. We start
the discussion by presenting a particularly simple example of an analogue
model, before exploring the rich history and complex tapestry of models
discussed in the literature. The last decade in particular has seen a
remarkable and sustained development of analogue gravity ideas, leading to some
hundreds of published articles, a workshop, two books, and this review article.
Future prospects for the analogue gravity programme also look promising, both
on the experimental front (where technology is rapidly advancing) and on the
theoretical front (where variants of analogue models can be used as a
springboard for radical attacks on the problem of quantum gravity).
