An introduction to a method of research which can be used in various fields of mathematics. It examines, in a systematic way, the quantitative characterizations of the deviation from a (given) property , called the defect of a property , in: set theory; topology; measure theory; real, complex and functional analysis; algebra; geometry; number theory; and fuzzy mathematics. Besides well-known defects , the text introduces and studies new ones, such as: measures of noncompactness for fuzzy sets; fuzzy and intuitionistic entropies; the defect of (sub, super)additivity; complementarity; monotonicity for set functions; the defect of convexity; monotonicity; differentiability for real functions; the defect of equality for inequalities; the defect of orthogonality for sets and defects of properties for linear operators in normed spaces; defects of properties (commutativity, associativity and more) for binary operations; defects of orthogonality and parallelness in Euclidean and non-Euclidean geometries; defects of integer, perfect, prime and amicable numbers; and the defect of tautology in fuzzy logic.