Recent studies have revealed biologically-significant differences between human and mouse lung development and highlighted new in vitro systems to allow experimental manipulation of human lung models. At the same time, emerging clinical data suggests that the origins of some adult lung diseases are found in embryonic development and childhood. The convergence of these research themes has fuelled a resurgence of interest in human lung developmental biology. This review discusses our current understanding of human lung development, which has been profoundly influenced by studies in mice and, more recently, by experiments in human in vitro lung developmental models and RNA-sequencing of human foetal lung tissue. Together, these approaches are helping to shed light on mechanisms of human lung development and disease, and may help pave the way for new therapies to be developed and tested.