A survey of the Earth science content of science textbooks found a wide range of misconceptions. These are discussed in this article with reference to the published literature on Earth science misconceptions. Most misconceptions occurred in the "sedimentary rocks and processes" and "Earth's structure and plate tectonics" categories; the most common are listed and reviewed. The prevalence of misconceptions in science textbooks is of concern as evidence indicates that many UK teachers of Earth science rely on school textbooks for their teaching. Reference to this article, Earth Science Education Unit (ESEU) workshops and the "Earthlearningidea" (ELI) website may help teachers to address such misconceptions in the future. (Contains 4 tables, 1 figure and 2 online resources.)