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.

These Proceedings include 42 of the 49 invited conference papers, three papers sub mitted subsequently, and a report devoted to new and unsolved problems based on two special problem sessions and as augmented by later communications from the participants. In addition, there are four short accounts that emphasize the personality of the scholars to whom the proceedings are dedicated. Due to the large number of contributors, the length of the papers had to be restricted. This volume is again devoted to recent significant results obtained in approximation theory, harmonic analysis, functional analysis, and operator theory. The papers solicited include in addition survey articles that not only describe fundamental advances in their subfields, but many also emphasize basic interconnections between the various research areas. They tend to reflect the range of interests of the organizers and of their immediate colleagues and collaborators. The papers have been grouped according to subject matter into ten chapters. Chap ter I, on operator theory, is devoted to certain classes of operators such as contraction, hyponormal, and accretive operators, as well as to suboperators and semi groups of operators. Chapter II, on functional analysis, contains papers on function spaces, algebras, ideals, and generalized functions. Chapter III, on abstract approximation, is concerned with the comparison of approximation processes, the gliding hump method, certain inter polation spaces, and n-widths.