This is the most thorough, most rigorous, well-written textbook in global systems climatology that I've seen. If you're bright, interested, and aren't allergic to equations (you don't need to read them to understand the book, you just have to not freak out) then this text will teach you more about the planet as a dynamic system than any other that I've seen -- plus, unlike most texbooks, it's not chuck full of stupid mistakes. I've used it in my upper division climatology class since it came out.