FROM WYSIWYG TO HALOES AND FOUNTAINS - THE DISCOVERY OF GALACTIC STRUCTURE

Highlights in the advancement of our understanding of the Milky Way as a galaxy are here outlined from the time of Plaskett and Pearce until the present. The emphasis is on Galactic structure and the interstell ar medium, including the discovery of differential rotation, the probl ems of interstellar absorption and the scale of the Galaxy, the emerge nce of radio astronomy, and developments resulting from more recent ob servations at other wavebands. The contributions of Plaskett and Pearc e are particularly considered.