Thanks to copious feedback from readers, many error corrections and pedagogic improvements have been made in each revision to the book. (See Corrections page.) To avoid the tedium and time consumption of having to incorporate these into your copy of the book, you may want to consider buying the latest version.
All new copies of the book now being sold are the latest version (Sept 2018 revision date) even though you will see a date advertised for it that is for the 2nd edition original publication year of 2013. That is the year of the original version of the second edition, not that of the latest revision.
If you buy a new, rather than used, copy of the book, you will be assured of getting the latest version. You can find the revision date on the reverse side of the title page at the beginning of the book.
Note the following ISBN and revision date summary to be sure you order the correct edition and version, if you buy the book.
First Edition: Hard cover ISBN: 978-0-9845139-2-5
(March 2013) Soft cover ISBN: 978-0-9845139-3-2
Second Edition: Hard cover ISBN: 978-0-9845139-4-9
(Original Pub Dec 2013) Soft cover ISBN: 978-0-9845139-5-6
Second Edition: Same ISBN numbers as original publication Second Edition above
(1st Revision May 2014)
Second Edition: Same ISBN numbers as original publication Second Edition above
(2nd Revision July 2015)
Second Edition: Same ISBN numbers as original publication Second Edition above
(3rd Revision Sept 2018)
The second edition incorporates many suggestions made by readers of the first edition to help make certain material clearer and the learning process easier. All of the changes to any version of the book included in any subsequent version are available and downloadable from the Corrections page.
The second edition contains twelve additional pages, spread though out the text, that expand and elaborate on certain subjects and make them simpler to understand. Other changes include more modest wording and equation revisions in many places made with the same goal in mind. Additionally, a fair number of typographical errors have been corrected.
Three revisions of the second edition (May 2014, July 2015, Sept 2018) include more errata correction and more pedagogic improvements, but aside from a change to the Chap. 18 appendix in the July 2015 version and an added section at the end of Chap. 10 in the Sept 2018 version, no new pages were added.
All equation and section numbers in the first edition have the same numbers in the second edition (and its revisions). Further, with one minor exception in Chap. 7 (See Preface to 2nd Edition for details), each page in the first edition has the same page number, and contains the same content, in the second edition (and its revisions).
Thus, readers of one version of the book can communicate readily with readers of another version when referencing particular equations, sections, and/or page numbers.