Earth: Portrait of a Planet, Second Edition, is the most accessible, up-to-date introductory geology text available. Professor Marshak’s careful revision is based largely on the suggestions of a team of solicited specialists, further informing the text’s hallmark integration of traditional geologic concepts with significant recent advances. The Second Edition’s seamless incorporation of these advances--earth systems science; theories of plate tectonics; and the study of earth’s history in close connection to the history of life--emphasizes the interconnectedness of geologic phenomena and cycles.