In a field as dynamic as nonlinear science, new ideas, methods and experiments emerge constantly and the focus of interest shifts accordingly. There is a continuous stream of new results, and existing knowledge is seen from a different angle after very few years. Five years after the first edition of “Nonlinear Time Series Analysis” we feel that the field has matured in a way that deserves being reflected in a second edition.

The modification that is most immediately visible is that the program listings have been be replaced by a thorough discussion of the publicly available software TISEAN. Already a few months after the first edition appeared, it became clear that most users would need something more convenient to use than the bare library routines printed in the book. Thus, together with Rainer Hegger we prepared stand-alone routines based on the book but with input/output functionality and advanced features. The first public release was made available in 1998 and subsequent releases are in widespread use now. Today, TISEAN is a mature piece of software that covers much more than the programs we gave in the first edition. Now, readers can immediately apply most methods studied in the book on their own data using TISEAN programs. By replacing the somewhat terse program listings by minute instructions of the proper use of the TISEAN routines, the link between book and software is strengthened, supposedly to the benefit of the readers and users. Hence we recommend a download and installation of the package, such that the exercises can be readily done by help of these ready-to-use routines.