Computation theory is a discipline that uses mathematical concepts and tools to expose the nature of computation and to explain a broad range of computational phenomena Why is it harder to perform some computations than othersampampnbsp Are the differences in difficulty that we observe inherent or are they artifacts of the way we try to perform the computationsampampnbsp How does one reason about such questions This unique textbook strives to endow students with conceptual and manipulative tools necessary to make computation theory part of their professional lives. The work achieves this goal by means of three stratagems that set its approach apart from most other texts on the subject. For starters it develops the necessary mathematical concepts and tools from the concepts simplest instances thereby helping students gain operational control over the required mathematics.