The S language and the S software for data analysis originated as a project of statistics research at Bell Labs, and spread widely over the last 30 years, especially as the open-source R software. The ACM Software System award stated that S "has forever altered how people analyze, visualize, and manipulate data"; at the least, S and R have become the standard medium for implementing and communicating new techniques from statistics research. This talk examines the evolution of S, emphasizing some key concepts that have shaped the language, considering how these reflect the creators' context and motivation. The talk also considers the current state of the software, particularly the hopes and problems for future progress in statistical software.