Introduction to Smooth Manifolds
Second Edition, © 2013
by John M. Lee

From the back cover:

This book is an introductory graduate-level textbook on the theory of smooth manifolds. Its goal is to familiarize students with the tools they will need in order to use manifolds in mathematical or scientific research--- smooth structures, tangent vectors and covectors, vector bundles, immersed and embedded submanifolds, tensors, differential forms, de Rham cohomology, vector fields, flows, foliations, Lie derivatives, Lie groups, Lie algebras, and more. The approach is as concrete as possible, with pictures and intuitive discussions of how one should think geometrically about the abstract concepts, while making full use of the powerful tools that modern mathematics has to offer.

This second edition has been extensively revised and clarified, and the topics have been substantially rearranged. The book now introduces the two most important analytic tools, the rank theorem and the fundamental theorem on flows, much earlier so that they can be used throughout the book. A few new topics have been added, notably Sard’s theorem and transversality, a proof that infinitesimal Lie group actions generate global group actions, a more thorough study of first-order partial differential equations, a brief treatment of degree theory for smooth maps between compact manifolds, and an introduction to contact structures.

Prerequisites include a solid acquaintance with general topology, the fundamental group, and covering spaces, as well as basic undergraduate linear algebra and real analysis.

About problems with print quality:

Many people have reported receiving copies of Springer books, especially from Amazon, that suffer from extremely poor print quality (bindings that quickly break, thin paper, and low-resolution printing, for example). This seems to be less likely to happen if you purchase directly from Springer, but even then it's not unheard of. Springer has told me they will replace any book with substandard print quality regardless of where you purchased it. Contact sales-ny@springernature.com for information.