% Blurb on back cover, gets included in lulu cover as well % as regular version, so be careful with formatting { \parindent=0pt \parskip=\baselineskip {\OPTbacktitlefont \textit{From the Introduction:}} \OPTbackfont \emph{Homotopy type theory} is a new branch of mathematics that combines aspects of several different fields in a surprising way. It is based on a recently discovered connection between \emph{homotopy theory} and \emph{type theory}. It touches on topics as seemingly distant as the homotopy groups of spheres, the algorithms for type checking, and the definition of weak $\infty$-groupoids. Homotopy type theory brings new ideas into the very foundation of mathematics. On the one hand, there is Voevodsky's subtle and beautiful \emph{univalence axiom}. The univalence axiom implies, in particular, that isomorphic structures can be identified, a principle that mathematicians have been happily using on workdays, despite its incompatibility with the ``official'' doctrines of conventional foundations. On the other hand, we have \emph{higher inductive types}, which provide direct, logical descriptions of some of the basic spaces and constructions of homotopy theory: spheres, cylinders, truncations, localizations, etc. Both ideas are impossible to capture directly in classical set-theoretic foundations, but when combined in homotopy type theory, they permit an entirely new kind of ``logic of homotopy types''. This suggests a new conception of foundations of mathematics, with intrinsic homotopical content, an ``invariant'' conception of the objects of mathematics --- and convenient machine implementations, which can serve as a practical aid to the working mathematician. This is the \emph{Univalent Foundations} program. The present book is intended as a first systematic exposition of the basics of univalent foundations, and a collection of examples of this new style of reasoning --- but without requiring the reader to know or learn any formal logic, or to use any computer proof assistant. We believe that univalent foundations will eventually become a viable alternative to set theory as the ``implicit foundation'' for the unformalized mathematics done by most mathematicians. \bigskip \begin{center} {\Large \textit{Get a free copy of the book at HomotopyTypeTheory.org.}} \end{center} }