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Every continuous real-valued function on the space~\\(\\omega_1\\) is constant on a tail; the function \\(n\\mapsto 2^{-n}\\) is continuous on~\\(\\omega_0\\) and injective. K\u0151nig's Lemma on branches in infinite trees fails for trees of height~\\(\\omega_1\\), as witnessed by Aronszajn trees. The function \\(n\\mapsto n-1\\) is injective and maps every finite nonzero ordinal to a smaller one; the Pressing-Down lemma states that a `pressing-down' function on~\\(\\omega_1\\) must be constant on a big set.  The author of this book has spent much time investigating the reason behind this behaviour of~\\(\\omega_1\\) and makes an excellent case for having discovered from which all things flow. The idea is to assign to every countable ordinal~\\(\\alpha\\) a cofinal subset~\\(C_\\alpha\\); if \\(\\alpha=\\beta+1\\) put \\(C_\\alpha=\\{\\beta\\}\\) and if \\(\\alpha\\)~is a limit ordinal let \\(C_\\alpha\\) be some simple increasing sequence of successor ordinals, cofinal in~\\(\\alpha\\). Given ordinals \\(\\alpha\\) and \\(\\beta\\) with \\(\\alpha<\\beta\\) one can `walk' from~\\(\\beta\\) down to~\\(\\alpha\\), guided by the sets \\(C_\\eta\\): start at \\(\\beta_0=\\beta\\), then let \\(\\beta_1=\\min\\{\\xi\\in C_{\\beta_0}:\\xi\\geq\\alpha\\}\\), \\(\\beta_2=\\min\\{\\xi\\in C_{\\beta_1}:\\xi\\geq\\alpha\\}\\), \\dots, until \\(\\beta_n=\\alpha\\) for some~\\(n=n(\\alpha,\\beta)\\), which will happen of course.  Thus one obtains 1)~the set \\(\\operatorname{Tr}(\\alpha,\\beta)=\\{\\beta_i:i\\leq n\\}\\), the trace of the walk; 2)~the number \\(n(\\alpha,\\beta)\\) of steps from~\\(\\beta\\) to~\\(\\alpha\\); 3)~the sequence \\(\\rho_0(\\alpha,\\beta)=\\langle k_i:i<n\\rangle\\) of finite ordinals from which~\\(\\operatorname{Tr}(\\alpha,\\beta)\\) may be reconstructed: \\(k_i=|C_{\\beta_i}\\cap\\alpha|\\), the position of~\\(\\beta_{i+1}\\) in~\\(C_{\\beta_i}\\). This list is not exhaustive but it will do for this review.  Rather than giving an exhausting enumeration of all results I will try to convey its spirit by describing some of its highlights (in this reviewer's opinion). To begin, the function~\\(\\rho_0\\) yields, without any real effort, an Aronszajn tree. First order \\(\\omega^{<\\omega}\\) lexicographically; this gives a dense countable order and for each~\\(\\beta\\) the sequence \\(s_\\beta=\\langle \\rho_0(\\alpha,\\beta):\\alpha<\\beta\\rangle\\) is strictly increasing. The initial segments of these sequences form an Aronszajn tree; the level sets are automatically countable as are the branches. The lexicographic order of \\(\\{s_\\beta:\\beta\\in\\omega_1\\}\\) yields a linearly ordered set~\\(C(\\rho_0)\\) whose square is the union of countably many chains. Under \\(\\roman{MA}_{\\aleph_1}\\) this order or its reverse embed into each uncountable linear order whose square is the union of countably many chains. This is one step on the way to \\textit{J. T. Moore}'s result [Ann. Math. (2) 163, No. 2, 669--688 (2006; Zbl 1143.03026)] that, under the Proper Forcing Axiom, every uncountable linear order contains a copy of \\(\\omega_1\\) or its reverse, of \\(C(\\rho_0)\\) or its reverse, or of some \\(\\aleph_1\\)-dense subset of the real line.  A combination of \\(\\operatorname{Tr}\\) and \\(\\rho_0\\) yields an older result by the author [Acta Math. 159, 261--294 (1987; Zbl 0658.03028)]: a colouring \\(c:[\\omega_1]^2\\to\\omega_1\\) such that \\(c``[X]^2=\\omega_1\\) for \\textit{each} uncountable subset~\\(X\\) of~\\(\\omega_1\\) (an `anti-Ramsey theorem' for \\(\\omega_1\\), so to speak). First put \\(\\Delta_0(\\alpha,\\beta)=\\min\\{\\xi\\leq\\alpha: \\rho_0(\\xi,\\alpha)\\neq\\rho_0(\\xi,\\beta)\\}\\) and then let \\([\\alpha\\beta]=\\min\\bigl(\\text{Tr} (\\Delta_0(\\alpha,\\beta),\\beta)\\setminus\\alpha\\bigr)\\). For each uncountable~\\(X\\) the set \\(\\{[\\alpha\\beta]:\\alpha,\\beta\\in X\\}\\) contains a closed and unbounded subset, so that a partition of~\\(\\omega_1\\) into \\(\\aleph_1\\) many stationary sets yields the colouring~\\(c\\).  The family of sequences \\(\\langle n(\\xi,\\alpha):\\xi<\\alpha\\rangle\\) derived from the number-of-steps function \\(n(\\alpha,\\beta)\\) is an example of a coherent-but-not-trivial object: it is coherent in the sense that \\(|n(\\xi,\\alpha)-n(\\xi,\\beta)|\\) is uniformly bounded whenever~\\(\\alpha<\\beta\\); it is non-trivial in the sense that each total function \\(g:\\omega_1\\to\\omega_1\\) has infinite distance to at least one sequence. This idea is lifted to arbitrary regular cardinals and yields a way of recognizing non-trivial sequences \\(\\langle C_\\alpha:\\alpha<\\theta\\rangle\\).  The book is worth reading for these and related questions alone but there is more. Each of the functions \\(\\text{Tr}\\), \\(n\\), \\(\\rho_0\\) and others may be used to construct Aronszajn trees, ordered sets like~\\(C(\\rho_0)\\) and so on. Under \\(\\roman{MA}_{\\aleph_1}\\) and related axioms these objects are, if not isomorphic, all equally canonical. For instance, the ordered sets all share the decomposability and minimality properties of~\\(C(\\rho_0)\\). Likewise, in the case of Aronszajn trees, those constructed in the book are archetypal in the sense that one cannot expect to construct very dissimilar objects in~\\(\\roman{ZFC}\\) alone.  There is more, much more, that can be done using walks as described above and it goes without saying that the structure of the sequence \\(\\langle C_\\alpha:\\alpha<\\theta\\rangle\\) determines the outcome of the constructions. Thus there is a whole chapter on square-sequences with refinements of older results and new applications.  This book is simply recommended reading for anyone with an interest in uncountable constructions and Chapters~2 and~3 may even be considered essential reading. The latter chapter develops the function~\\(\\rho\\), which is as close to a (natural) metric on~\\(\\omega_1\\) as one can get. The basic properties of~\\(\\rho\\) are that \\(\\rho(\\alpha,\\beta)\\geq\\max\\rho_0(\\alpha,\\beta)\\) and that it obeys the `triangle inequalities' \\(\\rho(\\alpha,\\gamma)\\leq\\max\\{\\rho(\\alpha,\\beta),\\rho(\\beta,\\gamma)\\}\\) and \\(\\rho(\\alpha,\\beta)\\leq\\max\\{\\rho(\\alpha,\\gamma),\\rho(\\beta,\\gamma)\\}\\). From~\\(\\rho\\) one defines (again canonically) a Hausdorff gap, a Cohen-name for a Souslin tree and some rather rigid Banach spaces.  I hope to have enticed the reader into at least picking up this 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