From the reviews of the second edition: "The book is written in an informal way, which could please the beginners and not offend the more experienced reader. A reader can find a lot of problems for independent study as well as a lot of illustrations encouraging him/her to draw pictures as an important part of the process of mathematical thinking." -European Mathematical Society, September 2011 "Several areas like sets, functions, sequences and convergence are dealt with and several exercises and projects are provided for deepening the understanding. ...It is the impression of the author of this review that the book can be particularly strongly recommended for teacher students to enable them to catch and transfer the "essence" of mathematical thinking to their pupils. But also everybody else interested in mathematics will enjoy this very well written book. -Burkhard Alpers (Aalen), zbMATH "The book is primarily concerned with an exposition of those parts of mathematics in which students need a more thorough grounding before they can work successfully in upper-division undergraduate courses. ... a mathematically-conventional but pedagogically-innovative take on transition courses." -Allen Stenger, The Mathematical Association of America, September, 2011