ramsey's original theorem states that if one finitely colors the $k$ element subsets of ${\bbb n}$ then there exists an infinite subsequence $m$ of ${\bbb n}$ all of whose $k$ elements subsets have the same color. this theorem and stronger versions entered into banach space theory in the 1970's. they were ideal for studying subsequences of a given sequence $(x_i)\subseteq x$ (infinite dimensional separable banach space). we survey some of these applications and the following problem. $x$ is said to satisfy the ultimate ramsey theorem if for every finite coloring $(c_i)_{i=1}^n$ of its unit sphere $s_x$ and $\varepsilon>0$ there exists an infinite dimensional subspace $y$ and $i_0$ so that $s_y\subseteq (c_{i_0})_\varepsilon =\{x:|x-z|<\varepsilon$ for some $z\in c_{i_0}\}$. what spaces $x$ (if any) have this property? we survey other results including gowers' block ramsey theorem for banach spaces.