  I review some recent progress made in our understanding of galaxy evolution
and the cosmic history of star formation. Like bookends, the results obtained
from deep ground-based spectroscopy and from the Hubble Deep Field imaging
survey put brackets around the intermediate redshift interval, $1<z<2$, where
starbirth probably peaked at a rate 10 times higher than today. The steady
decline observed since $z\sim 1$ is largely associated with late-type galaxies.
At $z\gtrsim 2.5$, the Lyman-break selected objects may represent the
precursors of present-day spheroids, but appear, on average, quite
underluminous relative to the expectations of the standard early-and-rapidly
forming picture for spheroidal systems. The observed ultraviolet light density
accounts for the bulk of the metals seen today in ``normal'' massive galaxies.
