Large scale geometry is the study of geometric objects viewed from a great distance. The idea of large scale geometry can be traced back to Mostow's work on rigidity and the work of Švarc, Milnor, and Wolf on growth of groups and is greatly influenced by Gromov's work on geometric group theory. In the last decades, large scale geometry has found important applications in group theory, topology, geometry, higher index theory, computer science, and large data analysis.

This book provides a friendly approach to the basic theory of this exciting and fast growing subject and offers a glimpse of its applications to topology, geometry, and higher index theory. The authors have made a conscientious effort to make the book accessible to advanced undergraduate students, graduate students, and non-experts.

The second edition has been updated to cover recent developments involving constructions of groups and metric spaces with exotic properties as well as results charting new directions in index theory, and it also includes minor improvements in the presentation and an updated bibliography.