This work presents a detailed review of the development of distributed acoustic sensors (DAS) and their newest scientific applications. It covers most areas of human activities, such as the engineering, material, and humanitarian sciences, geophysics, culture, biology, and applied mechanics. It also provides the theoretical basis for most well-known DAS techniques and unveils the features that characterize each particular group of applications. After providing a summary of research achievements, the paper develops an initial perspective of the future work and determines the most promising DAS technologies that should be improved.
