This textbook is designed for graduate students in mathematics, physics, engineering, and computer science. Its purpose is to guide the reader in exploring contemporary approximation theory. The emphasis is on multi-variable approximation theory, i.e., the approximation of functions in several variables, as opposed to the classical theory of functions in one variable. Most of the topics in the book, heretofore accessible only through research papers, are treated here from the basics to the currently active research, often motivated by practical problems arising in diverse applications such as science, engineering, geophysics, and business and economics. Among these topics are projections, interpolation paradigms, positive definite functions, interpolation theorems of Schoenberg and Micchelli, tomography, artificial neural networks, wavelets, thin-plate splines, box splines, ridge functions, and convolutions. An important and valuable feature of the book is the bibliography of almost 600 items directing the reader to important books and research papers. There are 438 problems and exercises scattered through the book allowing the student reader to get a better understanding of the subject.

Most functions that occur in mathematics cannot be used directly in computer calculations. Instead they are approximated by manageable functions such as polynomials and piecewise polynomials. The general theory of the subject and its application to polynomial approximation are classical, but piecewise polynomials have become far more useful during the last twenty years. Thus many important theoretical properties have been found recently and many new techniques for the automatic calculation of approximations to prescribed accuracy have been developed. This book gives a thorough and coherent introduction to the theory that is the basis of current approximation methods. Professor Powell describes and analyses the main techniques of calculation supplying sufficient motivation throughout the book to make it accessible to scientists and engineers who require approximation methods for practical needs. Because the book is based on a course of lectures to third-year undergraduates in mathematics at Cambridge University, sufficient attention is given to theory to make it highly suitable as a mathematical textbook at undergraduate or postgraduate level.

This textbook offers an accessible introduction to the theory and numerics of approximation methods, combining classical topics of approximation with recent advances in mathematical signal processing, and adopting a constructive approach, in which the development of numerical algorithms for data analysis plays an important role. The following topics are covered: * least-squares approximation and regularization methods * interpolation by algebraic and trigonometric polynomials * basic results on best approximations * Euclidean approximation * Chebyshev approximation * asymptotic concepts: error estimates and convergence rates * signal approximation by Fourier and wavelet methods * kernel-based multivariate approximation * approximation methods in computerized tomography Providing numerous supporting examples, graphical illustrations, and carefully selected exercises, this textbook is suitable for introductory courses, seminars, and distance learning programs on approximation for undergraduate students.

In addition to coverage of univariate interpolation and approximation, the text includes material on multivariate interpolation and multivariate numerical integration, a generalization of the Bernstein polynomials that has not previously appeared in book form, and a greater coverage of Peano kernel theory than is found in most textbooks. There are many worked examples and each section ends with a number of carefully selected problems that extend the student's understanding of the text. The author is well known for his clarity of writing and his many contributions as a researcher in approximation theory.

This is a textbook on classical polynomial and rational approximation theory for the twenty-first century. Aimed at advanced undergraduates and graduate students across all of applied mathematics, it uses MATLAB to teach the field’s most important ideas and results. Approximation Theory and Approximation Practice, Extended Edition differs fundamentally from other works on approximation theory in a number of ways: its emphasis is on topics close to numerical algorithms; concepts are illustrated with Chebfun; and each chapter is a PUBLISHable MATLAB M-file, available online. The book centers on theorems and methods for analytic functions, which appear so often in applications, rather than on functions at the edge of discontinuity with their seductive theoretical challenges. Original sources are cited rather than textbooks, and each item in the bibliography is accompanied by an editorial comment. In addition, each chapter has a collection of exercises, which span a wide range from mathematical theory to Chebfun-based numerical experimentation. This textbook is appropriate for advanced undergraduate or graduate students who have an understanding of numerical analysis and complex analysis. It is also appropriate for seasoned mathematicians who use MATLAB.

The field of approximation theory has become so vast that it intersects with every other branch of analysis and plays an increasingly important role in applications in the applied sciences and engineering. Fundamentals of Approximation Theory presents a systematic, in-depth treatment of some basic topics in approximation theory designed to emphasize the rich connections of the subject with other areas of study. With an approach that moves smoothly from the very concrete to more and more abstract levels, this text provides an outstanding blend of classical and abstract topics. The first five chapters present the core of information that readers need to begin research in this domain. The final three chapters the authors devote to special topics-splined functions, orthogonal polynomials, and best approximation in normed linear spaces- that illustrate how the core material applies in other contexts and expose readers to the use of complex analytic methods in approximation theory. Each chapter contains problems of varying difficulty, including some drawn from contemporary research. Perfect for an introductory graduate-level class, Fundamentals of Approximation Theory also contains enough advanced material to serve more specialized courses at the doctoral level and to interest scientists and engineers.

Calculus from Approximation to Theory takes a fresh and innovative look at the teaching and learning of calculus. One way to describe calculus might be to say it is a suite of techniques that approximate curved things by flat things and through a limiting process applied to those approximations arrive at an exact answer. Standard approaches to calculus focus on that limiting process as the heart of the matter. This text places its emphasis on the approximating processes and thus illuminates the motivating ideas and makes clearer the scientific usefulness, indeed centrality, of the subject while paying careful attention to the theoretical foundations. Limits are defined in terms of sequences, the derivative is defined from the best affine approximation, and greater attention than usual is paid to numerical techniques and the order of an approximation. Access to modern computational tools is presumed throughout and the use of these tools is woven seamlessly into the exposition and problems. All of the central topics of a yearlong calculus course are covered, with the addition of treatment of difference equations, a chapter on the complex plane as the arena for motion in two dimensions, and a much more thorough and modern treatment of differential equations than is standard. Dan Sloughter is Emeritus Professor of Mathematics at Furman University with interests in probability, statistics, and the philosophy of mathematics and statistics. He has been involved in efforts to reform calculus instruction for decades and has published widely on that topic. This book, one of the results of that work, is very well suited for a yearlong introduction to calculus that focuses on ideas over techniques.