A short history and the principle of Fourier spectroscopy are presented. Some engineering problems, such as mirror motion irregularities during interferogram scanning, beam splitter construction and influence of water vapour ; detector choice, sampling density, and scanning speed are discussed. Some ways to solve the problems are proposed. The advantages and disadvantages of Fourier spectroscopy with comparison to other spectroscopis techniques are presented. The applications in various domains with relevant references are mentioned. New trends in the Fourier spectrometry design are indicated. The works conducted in Poland are shortly described.