We present the first results of a wide field survey for planetary nebulae throughout M31 undertaken at the KPNO 0.9m telescope with the Mosaic camera. So far, images in [O III]⋋5007 and its continuum filter have been analyzed. Our survey appears to be at least 90% complete to about 2 mag below the peak of the planetary nebula luminosity function. Over 900 planetary nebulae candidates have been found within a 12 square degree area.

We review observational evidence bearing on the formation of a prototypical large spiral galaxy, the Milky Way. New ground- and space-based studies of globular star clusters and dwarf spheroidal galaxies provide a wealth of information to constrain theories of galaxy formation. It appears likely that the Milky Way formed by an combination of rapid, dissipative collapse and mergers, but the relative contributions of these two mechanisms remain controversial. New evidence, however, indicates that initial star and star cluster formation occurred simultaneously over a volume that presently extends to twice the distance of the Magellanic Clouds.