Functional analysis arose from traditional topics of calculus and integral and differential equations. This accessible text by an internationally renowned teacher and author starts with problems in numerical analysis and shows how they lead naturally to the concepts of functional analysis. Suitable for advanced undergraduates and graduate students, this book provides coherent explanations for complex concepts. Topics include Banach and Hilbert spaces, contraction mappings and other criteria for convergence, differentiation and integration in Banach spaces, the Kantorovich test for convergence of an iteration, and Rall's ideas of polynomial and quadratic operators. Numerous examples appear throughout the text. Dover (2010) unabridged republication of the edition published by Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1978. ALSO AVAILABLE Elements of the Theory of Functions and Functional Analysis, A. N. Kolmogorov. 288pp. 53/8 x 81/2. 0-486-40683-0Functional Analysis, Frigyes Riesz. 491pp. 53/8 x 81/2. 0-486-66289-6Elementary Functional Analysis, Georgi E. Shilov. 352pp. 53/8 x 81/2. 0-486-68923-9 For current price information write to Dover Publications, or log on to www.doverpublications.com and see every Dover book in print.