Astronomy Colloquium

The earliest generations of galaxies in our Universe constitute one of the last frontiers of cosmology. Observations are beginning to probe many aspects of this era - from the reionization of intergalactic hydrogen about one billion years after the Big Bang to the first onset of star formation in our Universe, and new instruments promise to revolutionize our understanding of this era over the next several years. I will discuss how multi-wavelength observations - from low-frequency radio measurements to near-infrared surveys - are essential to providing a complete view of these earliest luminous structures and their effects on baryons in the Universe.