The Second Edmonton Conference on Approximation Theory, held in Edmonton, Alberta, June 7-11, 1982, was devoted to Approximation Theory and related topics, including spline approximation, computational problems, complex and rational approximation, and techniques from harmonic analysis and the theory of interpolation of operators. In conformity with the requirements of this series, this volume consists of refereed papers by a selection of the invited speakers. The conference was sponsored by the Canadian Mathematical Society and supported by grants from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the University of Alberta.

A NATO Advanced Study Institute on Approximation Theory and Spline Functions was held at Memorial University of Newfoundland during August 22-September 2, 1983. This volume consists of the Proceedings of that Institute. These Proceedings include the main invited talks and contributed papers given during the Institute. The aim of these lectures was to bring together Mathematicians, Physicists and Engineers working in the field. The lectures covered a wide range including ~1ultivariate Approximation, Spline Functions, Rational Approximation, Applications of Elliptic Integrals and Functions in the Theory of Approximation, and Pade Approximation. We express our sincere thanks to Professors E. W. Cheney, J. Meinguet, J. M. Phillips and H. Werner, members of the International Advisory Committee. We also extend our thanks to the main speakers and the invi ted speakers, whose contri butions made these Proceedings complete. The Advanced Study Institute was financed by the NATO Scientific Affairs Division. We express our thanks for the generous support. We wish to thank members of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at MeMorial University who willingly helped with the planning and organizing of the Institute. Special thanks go to Mrs. Mary Pike who helped immensely in the planning and organizing of the Institute, and to Miss Rosalind Genge for her careful and excellent typing of the manuscript of these Proceedings.

The Fourth International Symposium on Multivariate Approximation Theory was held at the Oberwolfach Mathematical Research Insti tute, Black Forest, W.-Germany, during the week of January 20 - 26, 1985. The preceding conferences on this topic were held in 1976, 1979, and 1982 * . We were pleased to have more than 50 mathematicians from 13 countries in attendance. The program in cluded 40 lectures. These Proceedings form a record of most of the papers presented at the Symposium. The topics treated cover different problems on multivariate approximation such as polynomial approximation on simplices, multivariate splines (box-splines, dimension of spline spaces), blending methods, multivariate Hermite interpolation, data smoothing and surface representation, and multivariate summation methods. We would like to thank the director of the Oberwolfach Mathe matical Research Institute, Prof. Dr. M. Barner, and his staff for providing the facilities. Of the people who gave their time to help make this conference a success, we would like to mention in particular Prof. Dr. F.J. Delvos (Siegen), Dr. G. Baszenski (College Station, Texas), and Dipl.-Math. H. Nienhaus (Siegen). Finally, our thanks are due to Carl Einsele of Birkhauser Publishers for his valuable cooperation.