... The first book is about observing ­ really a great "how to" guide designed to make one aware of all that can be fine tuned with respect to observing skills. ... For any of you who attended Bill Murray's excellent talk at our March meeting this is a "must read." ... We are truly fortunate to be able to mark the conclusion of the 2002 ­ 2003 series of meetings at Peyton Hall by having as a guest speaker, Dr David N. Spergel of Princeton University's Department of Astrophysical Sciences. ...

Rep ort by the ESA-ESO Working Group on Galactic p opulations, chemistry and dynamics Abstract Between the early 40s, when Baade showed the first evidence for the existence of two distinct stellar populations, and today, with our Galaxy surprising us with new substructures discovered almost on a monthly basis, it is clear that a remarkable progress has been achieved in our understanding of the Galaxy, of its structure and stellar populations, and of its chemical and dynamical signatures. Yet, some questions