The book covers Python 2.x syntax. You might have downloaded Python 3.1, which has different syntax then Python 2.x. From what I can tell, the first example on page 7 is ">>> print 1 + 1".
Try issuing this command: print(1 + 1) If everything goes well, and you get '2' as the answer, then you're probably using Python 3.x. You will have to download the Python 2.x binaries from the Python website, install Python 2.x, and try the example from the book again. -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
