Interpolation and Approximation by Polynomials

George M. Phillips

Apr 2006 · Springer Science & Business Media

About this ebook

This book is intended as a course in numerical analysis and approximation theory for advanced undergraduate students or graduate students, and as a reference work for those who lecture or research in this area. Its title pays homage to Interpolation and Approximation by Philip J. Davis, published in 1963 by Blaisdell and reprinted by Dover in 1976. My book is less g- eral than Philip Davis’s much respected classic, as the quali?cation “by polynomials” in its title suggests, and it is pitched at a less advanced level. I believe that no one book can fully cover all the material that could appearinabookentitledInterpolation and Approximation by Polynomials. Nevertheless, I have tried to cover most of the main topics. I hope that my readers will share my enthusiasm for this exciting and fascinating area of mathematics, and that, by working through this book, some will be encouraged to read more widely and pursue research in the subject. Since my book is concerned with polynomials, it is written in the language of classical analysis and the only prerequisites are introductory courses in analysis and linear algebra.

About the author

George Phillips has lectured and researched in mathematics at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland. His most recent book, Two Millenia of Mathematics: From Archimedes to Gauss (Springer 2000), received enthusiastic reviews in the USA, Britain and Canada. He is well known for his clarity of writing and his many contributions as a researcher in approximation theory.