The concept that heavy fermions are close to a quantum critical point and
that this proximity determines their physical behavior, has opened new
perspectives in the study of these systems. It has provided a new paradigm for
understanding and probing the properties of these strongly correlated
materials. Scaling ideas were important to establish this approach. We give
below a brief and personal account of the genesis of some of these ideas 15
years ago, their implications and the future prospects for this exciting field.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, to be published in Brazilian Journal of Physic
