In an attempt to determine the nature and extent of the changes which are occurring in physical geography textbooks at the introductory college level, a number of American texts published between 1960 and 1983 were subjected to a detailed analysis. Books were divided into an early group (publication dates: 1960-70) and late group (publication dates: 1974-83) and considered for length, subject organization and length of coverage, reading level, material covered, and text supplements. Findings indicate that significant changes are occurring in the content and approach taken in introductory physical geography texts. Three trends are especially noteworthy: a major change in emphasis on the subject of human interaction with the physical environment; an increasing tendency to cover weather and climate at very early points in the texts; and an increasing emphasis on interrelating material content of physical geography by using unifying approaches such as systems analysis. While the scope of this study was on the nature of changes that have been made, it is recommended that future studies focus attention on reasons underlying these changes. (LP)