Book excerpt: Isotope chronology has developed over the last 100 years and has advanced in response to the requirements of geological research. Despite the technical, instrumental, and methodological advances in geochronology, accurate and precise dating of geological materials, processes, and events is still needed. This book highlights new findings on tectonochronology, and contributes to the theory and methods of several important scientific topics, such as the formation of syn-kinematic minerals, development of systematic methods of dating deformation and their use, criteria for dateable minerals and methods for direct and precise dating, the relationship between mineral formation/evolution and isotope chronology, influences of strain and fluid on isotopic diffusion, and improved understanding of stress, fluid, and temperature in earth sciences. This book includes cases from Chinese geology that refer to dating of deformation, tectonic evolution and environmental change. These methods can be applied to other earth science topics and geological studies worldwide.