A unique text and reference for pure and applied mathematicians, engineers, physicists, and chemists, this 1958 volume was a landmark in the literature of computational methods in mathematical physics. The treatment remains of great interest because of its thoroughness and scope. A valuable historic source for methods and approaches to problems of mathematical physics, the text is enhanced by many detailed, worked-out examples. AUTHORS: Leonid Vitaliyevich Kantorovich (1912–1986) was a prominent Soviet mathematician who did important work in many areas of mathematics including functional analysis, operator theory, and approximation theory. He graduated from Leningrad University at the age of 18 and was a full professor there four years later. He is regarded as the founder of linear programming. Vladimir Ivanovich Krylov (1902–1994) was also a Soviet mathematician.