Large scale geometry is the study of geometric objects viewed from afar, explains mathematicians Nowak (Polish Academy of Sciences and U. of Warsaw) and U Yu (Texas A&M U.-College Station). It considers two objects to be the same if they look roughly the same from a large distance, for example planets. One of the motivations for the book is the use of large scale geometric methods in index theory, but they also note applications in Banach spaces, theoretical computer science, and large data analysis. Graduate students and mathematicians new to large scale geometry should have no trouble with the material, they say; they include proofs for most of the theorems, and chapter-end exercises. Distributed in the US by American Mathematical Society. Annotation ©2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)