Connecting the Distant Universe with the Local Fossil Record

This review considers implications regarding galaxy formationand evolution that can be drawn from study of the ages,abundances, and kinematics of stellar populations in the LocalUniverse. The wide abundance range in the Galactic bulge and in thehalo of M31 is consistent with chemical evolution in a starburstwith wind outflow. We question the notionthat the Galactic halo population is assembled fromdisrupted dwarf spheroidal galaxies, based on the presenceof metal rich stars in Local Group halos.The alpha-element enhancements of bulge giants are those expected from a system forming on a timescale of less than 1 Gyr. Direct measurement of the star formationhistory from turnoff photometry in Local Group galaxiesis not in complete agreement with the universal star formation rateinferred from high redshift studies. We argue that the properties of the Local Universe constrain galaxyformation theory just as strongly as the findings gleaned fromhigh redshift galaxies. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.