  Meteorites are a remarkable resource. They capture the imagination of people
worldwide with their spectacular entry through Earth's atmosphere as fireballs,
and their exotic character of being pieces of other worlds. Scientifically,
they are critical to interpreting the early stages of formation of the Solar
System, as well as the geological evolution of asteroids, the Moon, and Mars,
and they are vital to understanding planetary formation processes. With the
burgeoning exploration of extrasolar planetary systems, knowledge of the
fundamental process of planetary growth from protoplanetary disks has taken on
a new significance. Meteorites provide essential and detailed insight into the
formation of planetary systems, although we must bear in mind that they only
represent one reference point (our own Solar System) in what is clearly a wide
spectrum of possible chemical and physical parameters governing the diverse
realm of extrasolar planets. This chapter summarises the nature of our
meteorite collections, and the ways in which meteorites contribute to our
understanding of the formation and evolution of our own Solar System, with
broader implications for planetary systems in general.
