This book is based on lectures I have given to undergraduate and
graduate audiences at Oxford and elsewhere over the years. My aim has
been to provide an outline of both the topological theory and the
uniform theory, with an emphasis on the relation between the two.
Although I hope that the prospec- tive specialist may find it useful as
an introduction it is the non-specialist I have had more in mind in
selecting the contents. Thus I have tended to avoid the ingenious
examples and counterexamples which often occupy much ofthe space in
books on general topology, and I have tried to keep the number of
definitions down to the essential minimum. There are no particular pre-
requisites but I have worked on the assumption that a potential reader
will already have had some experience of working with sets and functions
and will also be familiar with the basic concepts of algebra and
analysis. There are a number of fine books on general topology, some of
which I have listed in the Select Bibliography at the end of this
volume. Of course I have benefited greatly from this previous work in
writing my own account. Undoubtedly the strongest influence is that of
Bourbaki's Topologie Generale [2], the definitive treatment of the
subject which first appeared over a genera- tion ago.