Light pulses of sub-100 as (1 as=10^-18 s) duration, with photon energies in the extreme-ultraviolet (XUV) spectral domain, represent the shortest event in time ever made and controlled by human beings. Their first experimental observation in 2001 has opened the door to investigating the fundamental dynamics of the quantum world on the natural time scale for electrons in atoms, molecules and solids and marks the beginning of the scientific field now called attosecond science.