Joint Discussion 1 was supported by
Division IV (Stars) and Commission 29 (Stellar
Spectra), and co-supported by Commissions 28
(Galaxies), 36 (Theory of Stellar Atmospheres) and
37 (Stellar Clusters and Associations). Members of
the scientific organizing committee were: N.
Arimoto (Japan), B. Barbuy (Brazil), T. Beers
(USA), J. Bergeron (Germany), M. Bessell
(Australia), R. Cayrel (France), G. Gilmore (UK),
B. Gustafsson (Sweden), F. Matteucci (Italy), P.
Nissen (Den-mark), and M. Rich (USA).
The inspiration for this meeting was the
growing overlap and connections between previously
separate areas of astrophysical research, namely,
studies of stellar abundances, the bulges of
galaxies, the gaseous components of nearby
galaxies and the clouds (some of which may be
primordial) responsible for the narrow absorption
lines in quasars.
The signature of the early chemical
evolution of our Galaxy is imprinted in the
abundance ratios of the oldest stars. We recall
that element ratios are determined by a mix of the
relative rates of different types of supernovae,
the stellar IMF, and the relative histories of
star formation rates and gaseous flows, and thus
encapsulate much of the history of star formation
and ISM evolution in galaxies. Hence, abundance
ratios in stars are a primary probe for testing
theories of galaxy formation and
evolution.
We do not know how the Galaxy formed: both
the Eggen, Lynden-Bell & Sandage (1962) and
the Searle & Zinn (1978) scenarios may be
accommodated in the recent proposal of van den
Bergh (1993) where the inner Galaxy follows ELS,
whereas the outer Galaxy formation conforms to the
Searle-Zinn proposition. A combination of
abundance ratios, ages derived from
colour-magnitude diagrams, and kinematical
properties, can give us the required information
to trace the past history of our Galaxy. We note
here, that although stellar evolution and model
atmospheres are not discussed in the proceedings
both topics are of fundamental underlying
importance. Model atmospheres are used to derive
temperatures, colors and bolometric corrections of
stars that are used not only in abundance analyses
but also in deriving the ages of stars by
comparing CM diagrams with HR diagrams. This
process is under close scrutiny because of the
apparent difference between the ages of the oldest
stars and the expansion age of the
universe.