The Milky Way and the evolution of disk galaxies

We present a phenomenological approach to the study of disk galaxy evolution, based on i) a detailed modelling of the Milky Way (used as a prototype disk galaxy) and ii) an extension of the model to other disks through some simple scaling relations, obtained in the framework of Cold Dark matter models. The main conclusion is that, on average, massive disks have formed the bulk of their stars earlier than their lower mass counterparts. It is not yet clear why the "star formation hierarchy" has been apparently opposite to the "dark matter assembly" hierarchy.