Abstract The Re–Os system has now been applied to a wide variety of problems in the solid earth sciences. This review concentrates on applications of the Re–Os system to understanding the age and composition of the mantle and the role that various materials in the mantle play in generating surface magmas. The progress in understanding Re–Os systematics in natural materials has accompanied dramatic advances in the understanding of the geochemical behavior of Re and the platinum group elements. This group of elements and the two isotopic systems (Pt–Os and Re–Os) they contain provide a view of Earth processes that are controlled not by the silicate phases the make up most of the outer portion of Earth, but by sulfide, oxide and metal phases that constitute but a trace of the mantle and crust. These phases are sensitive to oxygen and sulfur fugacities in ways that silicates are not. Consequently, the Re–Os and Pt–Os systems provide a new view into the geochemical evolution of the solid Earth that is complementary to that obtained through the study of traditional radiometric systems that are based on lithophile elements.