This new edition offers many new and enhanced features, including more than a hundred new figures, 75 new questions at end of chapter "Questions for Review and Discussion", and additional "Enrichment Boxes." Furthermore, new sections have been added, including: A Variety of Paleozoic Living Strategies and What Lies Ahead for Humanity. The revised Geological Time Scale is also included to conform to the most recent recommendation of the International Congress on Stratigraphic Nomenclature.