The recent renaissance in controlled-stress rheometry has meant that more and more commercial models of this type of instrument have appeared in the (rheological) marketplace and many papers now deal with the results obtained by their use. It is therefore both timely and appropriate that this mode of rheometry should be reviewed for the sake of new and old users who are probably not be aware of its development. The history of controlled-stress measurements is therefore given, and the particular efforts of the late Jack Deer in the 1970s are chronicled, and then the later developments that have made it possible that such low torques can now be applied and such low rotational speeds measured. These have been mostly in the areas of air bearing and optical disc technologies. The typical results now obtained are illustrated.