The challenge of large-scale structure

The tasks that I have assumed for myself in this presentation include three separate parts. The first, appropriate to the particular setting of this meeting, is to review the basic work of the founding of this field; the appropriateness comes from the fact that W. G. Tifft made immense contributions that are not often realized by the astronomical community. The second task is to outline the general tone of the observational evidence for large scale structures. (Here, in particular, I cannot claim to be complete. I beg forgiveness from any workers who are left out by my oversight for lack of space and time.) The third task is to point out some of the major aspects of the field that may represent the clues by which some brilliant sleuth will ultimately figure out how galaxies formed.