Book excerpt: Stratigraphy allows us to establish and communicate the timings for the course of Earth history and provides the means to determine the duration and rates of Earth processes. Deciphering Earth’s History: the Practice of Stratigraphy focuses on how to apply the wide spectrum of stratigraphical techniques. It also explains how these techniques can be integrated and details their individual strengths and limitations. Chapters are laid out in a step-by-step style, guiding the reader through a recommended approach and explaining the factors to be considered. The methods are illustrated with flow charts, marginal top tips, checklists, worked examples and over 200 figures. Authors from academia, research centres and industry have contributed to ensure a wide range of perspectives are included. In addition to chapters on each of the stratigraphical techniques there is also material on accounting for stratigraphical incompleteness, constructing geological timescales, handling and archiving stratigraphical data and the application of stratigraphy to space exploration and other disciplines. This book is designed for a wide audience ranging from advanced level undergraduates to professional practitioners wishing to use other stratigraphical techniques or understand the advantages and weaknesses of particular techniques.