Suitable for advanced undergraduates, postgraduates and researchers, this self-contained textbook provides an introduction to the mathematics lying at the foundations of bifurcation theory. The theory is built up gradually, beginning with the well-developed approach to singularity theory through right-equivalence. The text proceeds with contact equivalence of map-germs and finally presents the path formulation of bifurcation theory. This formulation, developed partly by the author, is more general and more flexible than the original one dating from the 1980s. A series of appendices discuss standard background material, such as calculus of several variables, existence and uniqueness theorems for ODEs, and some basic material on rings and modules. Based on the author's own teaching experience, the book contains numerous examples and illustrations. The wealth of end-of-chapter problems develop and reinforce understanding of the key ideas and techniques: solutions to a selection are provided.

This textbook gives a contemporary account of singularity theory and its principal application, bifurcation theory.

Based on a lecture course, this text gives a rigorous introduction to nonlinear analysis, dynamical systems and bifurcation theory including catastrophe theory. Wherever appropriate it emphasizes a geometrical or coordinate-free approach allowing a clear focus on the essential mathematical structures. It brings out features common to different branches of the subject while giving ample references for more advanced or technical developments.

The new edition of this non-mathematical review of catastrophe theory contains updated results and many new or expanded topics including delayed loss of stability, shock waves, and interior scattering. Three new sections offer the history of singularity and its applications from da Vinci to today, a discussion of perestroika in terms of the theory of metamorphosis, and a list of 93 problems touching on most of the subject matter in the book.

... there is nothing so enthralling, so grandiose, nothing that stuns or captivates the human soul quite so much as a first course in a science. After the first five or six lectures one already holds the brightest hopes, already sees oneself as a seeker after truth. I too have wholeheartedly pursued science passionately, as one would a beloved woman. I was a slave, and sought no other sun in my life. Day and night I crammed myself, bending my back, ruining myself over my books; I wept when I beheld others exploiting science fot personal gain. But I was not long enthralled. The truth is every science has a beginning, but never an end - they go on for ever like periodic fractions. Zoology, for example, has discovered thirty-five thousand forms of life ... A. P. Chekhov. "On the road" In this book a start is made to the "zoology" of the singularities of differentiable maps. This theory is a young branch of analysis which currently occupies a central place in mathematics; it is the crossroads of paths leading from very abstract corners of mathematics (such as algebraic and differential geometry and topology, Lie groups and algebras, complex manifolds, commutative algebra and the like) to the most applied areas (such as differential equations and dynamical systems, optimal control, the theory of bifurcations and catastrophes, short-wave and saddle-point asymptotics and geometrical and wave optics).

This volume is the record and product of two International Symposia on the Appli cation of Catastrophe Theory and Topological Concepts in Physics, held in May and December 1978 at the Institute for Information Sciences, University of TUbingen. The May Symposium centered around the conferral of an honorary doctorate upon Professor Rene Thom, Paris, by the Faculty of Physics of the University of TUbingen in recognition of his discovery of universal structure principles and the new di mension he has added to scientific knowledge by his pioneering work on structural stability and morphogenesis. Owing to the broad scope and rapid development of the field, the May Sympos,ium was followed in December by a second one on the same sub jects. The symposia, attended by more than 50 scientists, brought together mathe maticians, physicists, chemists and biologists to exchange ideas about the recent faSCinating impact of topological concepts on the physical sciences, and also to introduce young scientists to the field. The contributions, covering a wide spectrum, are summarized in the subsequent Introduction. The primary support of the Symposia was provided by the "Vereinigung der Freunde der Univertat TUbingen" (Association of the Benefactors of the University). We are particularly indebted to Dr. H. Doerner for his personal engagement and efficient help with the projects, both in his capacity as Secretary of the Association and as Administrative Director of the University.