While I was visiting Boston University during the 1996-97 academic year, I noticed a small book, written in German, on a shelf in Steve Homer's office. Curious, I borrowed it for my train ride home and began reading one of the chapters. I liked the style and format of the book so much that over the course of the next few months I frequently found myself reaching for it and working through one chapter or another. This was my introduction to Peden der Theoretischen Informatik. A few of my colleagues had also seen the book. They also found it inter­ esting, but most of them did not read German well enough to read more than small portions of it enjoyably. I hope that the English version will rectify this situation, and that many will enjoy (and learn from) the English version as much as I enjoyed the German version. The front matter of this book says that it has been """"translated, revised, and expanded."""" I should perhaps say a few words about each of these tasks. In translating the book, I have tried as much as possible to retain the feel of the original, which is somewhat less formal and impersonal than a typical text book yet relatively concise. I certainly hope that the """"pleasure of the pursuit of understanding"""" has not gotten lost in the translation. | Gems of Theoretical Computer Science by Uwe Schöning, Paperback | Indigo Chapters