Wolf-Rayet stars and galaxies

Wolf-Rayet (W-R) stars have strong broad emission lines of highly excited i ons present in their optical spectra. These features have been found in mas sive, young but highly evolved, hot luminous stars and in the integrated sp ectra of some starburst galaxies. The stellar emission lines have their ori gin in robust winds with sufficient density that unit optical depth is form ed in the outflowing material. The W-R galaxy spectra arise from the superp osition of the emission-line spectra of many W-R stars, seen in contrast to the starburst continuum. This occurs when sufficient numbers of W-R stars are present, at a relatively early time in the history of the starburst. I will provide a brief overview of the history of W-R stars, a glance at our current understanding of their nature and evolution, and a glimpse of their promise for providing information about starbursts near and far.