"Version: 20241201"--Title page verso.Includes bibliographical references.1. Introduction -- 1.1. Stars and brown dwarfs -- 1.2. Definitions and brown dwarf research paradigms -- 1.3. Discovery of brown dwarfs2. The basics -- 2.1. Fundamental parameters -- 2.2. Astronomy units: magnitudes and parsecs -- 2.3. Spectroscopy: velocities, surface gravity and metallicity3. Spectral types -- 3.1. Spec…