Major leaps in space technology now allow us to view the splendour and diversity of the Solar System in remarkable detail. This textbook presents a fascinating description of the bodies in the Solar System and their origin and evolution. It highlights important concepts and techniques in boxed summaries. There are questions and answers throughout the text, as well as exercises with full solutions. Written and edited by practising planetary scientists, this new edition has been updated to reflect current knowledge and contains new figures to bring it up to date. It is ideal for introductory courses on the subject and is suitable for self-study. Online resources include electronic versions of figures from the book, sample assignments with suggested answers and links to websites featuring video clips and news stories related to the textbook.