The present volume comprises Chapters 1-6 in English translation (a second volume will contain the remaining Chapters 7-9). The individual fascicles of the original French edition have been extensively reviewed. Chapters 1-5 received very substantial revisions in a second edition, including changes to some fundamental definitions. Chapters 6-8 are based on the first editions of Chs. 1-5. The English edition has given the author the opportunity to correct misprints, update references, clarify the concordance of Chapter 6 with the second editions of Chapters 1-5, and revise the definition of a key concept in Chapter 6 (measurable equivalence relations).