The Limits of Cosmology

One of our greatest challenges in cosmology is understanding the origin of the structure of the universe, and in particular the formation of the galaxies. I will describe how the fossil radiation from the beginning of the universe, the cosmic microwave background, has provided a window for probing the initial conditions from which structure evolved and seeded the formation of the galaxies, and the outstanding issues that remain to be resolved, including the nature of dark matter and dark energy. I will address our optimal choice of future strategy in order to make further progress towards understanding our cosmic origins.