In his seminal paper, Holling coined the term resilience as the ability of ecosystems to absorb changes without a major transformation of system dynamics and feedbacks. This concept is becoming increasingly significant in many interdisciplinary studies, such as ecology, economics, environmental studies, sociology and political science. These studies deal with the interactions between humans and nature, providing a fresh and useful way to explore sustainable development. However, different interpretations of what is meant by resilience can cause confusion. Hence, the resilience of a system needs to be considered in terms of the attributes that govern system dynamic, based on a uniform scientific foundation. This paper first provides an overview of the related theories of adaptive cycle and of panarchy, which are newer developments drawing on the earlier work on resilience, and then traces the evolution of the concept of resilience. The meaning of resilience has evolved and expanded greatly since the 1970s, with some new insights gained during the last decade. Nowadays, the study of resilience has been incorporated into the framework of linked social-ecological systems. Resilience, for social-ecological systems, is related to (a) the magnitude of shock that the system can absorb and remain within a given state, (b) the degree to which the system is capable of self-organization, and (c) the degree to which the system can build capacity for learning and adaptation. A growing number of case studies have revealed the close connection between resilience, diversity and sustainability of social-ecological systems. Finally, we suggest some future areas of study for a better understanding of the resilience of social-ecological systems. There are still critical questions to be solved in the future, to build resilience and increase the capacity of social-ecological systems to cope with surprise in today′s changing world.