A stimulating introductory text, this volume examines many important applications of functional analysis to mechanics, fluid mechanics, diffusive growth, and approximation. Detailed enough to impart a thorough understanding, the text is also sufficiently straightforward for those unfamiliar with abstract analysis. Its four-part treatment begins with distribution theory and discussions of Green's functions. Essentially independent of the preceding material, the second and third parts deal with Banach spaces, Hilbert space, spectral theory, and variational techniques. The final part outlines the ideas behind Frechet calculus, stability and bifurcation theory, and Sobolev spaces. 1985 edition. 25 Figures. 9 Appendices. Supplementary Problems. Indexes.