Chemical Fundamentals of Geology (first edition 1989 Unwin Hyman subsequently acquired by HarperCollins; second edition 1996 Chapman and Hall, acquired by Kluwer then Springer) has become an established textbook adopted in numerous universities in the UK, North America, Australasia, several European countries (a German translation of the first edition was produced in 1993 by Ferdinand Enke) and elsewhere (e.g. Indonesia, Egypt). Both editions of the book have attracted favourable reviews  in academic journals and magazines around the world. Many Earth science departments here and in North America today recruit as many students to environmental earth science degree programmes as to mainstream geology. This student-led change in academic emphasis along with the continuing decline in the chemical knowledge of incoming Earth science degree students, especially those on environmental programmes suggests that any successor to Chemical Fundamentals will sell to a wider audience if it covers the basic chemistry that underpins environmental geoscience as well as core geology . This shift in emphasis is reflected in the proposed new title.