Introductory Functional Analysis

Mathematics is playing an ever more important role in the physical and biological sciences, provo king a blurring of boundaries between scientific dis­ ciplines and a resurgence of interest in the modern as weil as the classical techniques of applied mathematics.

THIS IS BOTH PROMO COPY AND BACK COVER COPY!!!!! This book provides an introduction to functional analysis and treats in detail its application to boundary-value problems and finite elements. The book is intended for use by senior undergraduate and graduate students in mathematics, the physical sciences and engineering, who may not have been exposed to the conventional prerequisites for a course in functional analysis, such as real analysis. Mature researchers wishing to learn the basic ideas of functional analysis would also find the text useful. The text is distinguished by the fact that abstract concepts are motivated and illustrated wherever possible. Readers of this book can expect to obtain a good grounding in those aspects of functional analysis which are most relevant to a proper understanding and appreciation of the mathematical aspects of boundary-value problems and the finite element method.