The great debate on the nature of the nebulae will have its 100 years anniversary next year. In the course of those hundred years we have come to understand galaxies as one of the most mind-boggling phenomena in nature with a quantum mechanical origin reflecting conditions in the Universe a tiny fraction of a second after the Big Bang. To understand galaxies we need to involve all aspects of physics from particle, atomic, molecular and solid stare physics. In this talk I will discuss some of the pieces to the puzzle of galaxy formation, namely how we can use sight-lines to quasars to probe the chemical evolution of galaxies at look-back times of 10-13 Gyr. As part of this story I will discuss the issue of dust bias and how new methods for selection of quasars among point-sources on the sky can circumvent this bias.