This is a book for professionals students of indian philosophy. I had read about 10 books on indian philosophy prior to this one so I assumed that I would be able to comprehend it, but it was definitely more difficult than I thought. Basically the reader should be familiar with the original sources in the vaisesika school of philosophy and some knowledge of sanskrit would be very helpful as well. Halbfass writes very well and is careful not to let approximate translations get in the way of accurate analysis. Clearly that's the way foreign philosophical traditions must be studied, but this means that the layman will struggle to comprehend the meaning of the unfamiliar ontological vocabulary employed in this book.