This volume contains 23 chapters by 30 authors in perhaps a dozen general areas of geochemistry. The contributions include critical reviews (some are extensions of discussions presented in the first volume of the series), state‐of‐the‐art considerations, and research papers. Such collective works defy the usual type of appraisal, since a reviewer has competence in, at most, several of the fields covered. Nonetheless, the overall intellectual impact upon the reviewer, who must be slightly subjective, is useful in ascertaining whether the book will be of value in research and teaching or whether it is another eddy in the paper flood. I submit that this book provides a provocative and substantial assessment of some of the important problems actively under study today. The authors are, for the most part, distinguished and mature investigators who have thoughtfully produced their cha