The sequence of cosmogony and the nature of primeval departures from homogeneity

The arguments for and against the ideas that galaxies are fragments of protoclusters or that clusters formed by gravitational collection of galaxies are reviewed and extended. The easiest way to reconcile the arguments seems to be the conjecture that the primeval departures from homogeneity were a scale-invariant non-Gaussian random process. An example of what seems to be wanted is presented, and possible implications for ab initio theories of the origin of the fluctuations are indicated.