"This book is the first authoritative and up-to-date survey of the history of Iraq from earliest times to the present in any language. It presents a concise narrative of the rich and varied history of this land, drawing on political, social, economic, artistic, technological, and intellectual material. It also includes excerpts from works of ancient, medieval, and modern literature written in Iraq, some of which are translated for the first time into English. The final chapters provide an introduction tothe history of archaeology in Iraq, set in the wider context of the development of archaeology into a scientific discipline. A special section highlights selected objects from the Iraq Museum, with emphasis on their cultural significance and current status in the aftermath of the looting in April 2003. The last chapter offers a unique guide to the complex international and national legal regimes for the protection of cultural heritage. The American-led invasion and occupation of Iraq are a turning point in Iraq's modern history, with important cultural consequences for all periods of its past. For all who seek to understand more fully the current situation, this book includes discussion of cultural and legal issues of the war and occupation, placing recent events in their full context."--pub. desc.

This book presents the arithmetic and metrical theory of regular continued fractions and is intended to be a modern version of A. Ya. Khintchine's classic of the same title. Besides new and simpler proofs for many of the standard topics, numerous numerical examples and applications are included (the continued fraction of e, Ostrowski representations and t-expansions, period lengths of quadratic surds, the general Pell's equation, homogeneous and inhomogeneous diophantine approximation, Hall's theorem, the Lagrange and Markov spectra, asymmetric approximation, etc). Suitable for upper level undergraduate and beginning graduate students, the presentation is self-contained and the metrical results are developed as strong laws of large numbers.

Continued Fractions consists of two volumes — Volume 1: Convergence Theory; and Volume 2: Representation of Functions (tentative title), which is expected in 2011. Volume 1 is dedicated to the convergence and computation of continued fractions, while Volume 2 will treat representations of meromorphic functions by continued fractions. Taken together, the two volumes will present the basic continued fractions theory without requiring too much previous knowledge; some basic knowledge of complex functions will suffice. Both new and advanced graduate students of continued fractions shall get a comprehensive understanding of how these infinite structures work in a number of applications, and why they work so well. A varied buffet of possible applications to whet the appetite is presented first, before the more basic but modernized theory is given. This new edition is the result of an increasing interest in computing special functions by means of continued fractions. The methods described in detail are, in many cases, very simple, yet reliable and efficient.

Continued Fractions consists of two volumes -- Volume 1: Convergence Theory; and Volume 2: Representation of Functions (tentative title), which is expected in 2011. Volume 1 is dedicated to the convergence and computation of continued fractions, while Volume 2 will treat representations of meromorphic functions by continued fractions. Taken together, the two volumes will present the basic continued fractions theory without requiring too much previous knowledge; some basic knowledge of complex functions will suffice. Both new and advanced graduate students of continued fractions shall get a comprehensive understanding of how these infinite structures work in a number of applications, and why they work so well. A varied buffet of possible applications to whet the appetite is presented first, before the more basic but modernized theory is given.This new edition is the result of an increasing interest in computing special functions by means of continued fractions. The methods described in detail are, in many cases, very simple, yet reliable and efficient.

Special functions are pervasive in all fields of science and industry. The most well-known application areas are in physics, engineering, chemistry, computer science and statistics. Because of their importance, several books and websites (see for instance http: functions.wolfram.com) and a large collection of papers have been devoted to these functions. Of the standard work on the subject, the Handbook of mathematical functions with formulas, graphs and mathematical tables edited by Milton Abramowitz and Irene Stegun, the American National Institute of Standards claims to have sold over 700 000 copies! But so far no project has been devoted to the systematic study of continued fraction representations for these functions. This handbook is the result of such an endeavour. We emphasise that only 10% of the continued fractions contained in this book, can also be found in the Abramowitz and Stegun project or at the Wolfram website!

Traditionally a subject of number theory, continued fractions appear in dynamical systems, algebraic geometry, topology, and even celestial mechanics. The rise of computational geometry has resulted in renewed interest in multidimensional generalizations of continued fractions. Numerous classical theorems have been extended to the multidimensional case, casting light on phenomena in diverse areas of mathematics. This book introduces a new geometric vision of continued fractions. It covers several applications to questions related to such areas as Diophantine approximation, algebraic number theory, and toric geometry. The reader will find an overview of current progress in the geometric theory of multidimensional continued fractions accompanied by currently open problems. Whenever possible, we illustrate geometric constructions with figures and examples. Each chapter has exercises useful for undergraduate or graduate courses.

The history of continued fractions is certainly one of the longest among those of mathematical concepts, since it begins with Euclid's algorithm for the great est common divisor at least three centuries B.C. As it is often the case and like Monsieur Jourdain in Moliere's "Ie bourgeois gentilhomme" (who was speak ing in prose though he did not know he was doing so), continued fractions were used for many centuries before their real discovery. The history of continued fractions and Pade approximants is also quite im portant, since they played a leading role in the development of some branches of mathematics. For example, they were the basis for the proof of the tran scendence of 11' in 1882, an open problem for more than two thousand years, and also for our modern spectral theory of operators. Actually they still are of great interest in many fields of pure and applied mathematics and in numerical analysis, where they provide computer approximations to special functions and are connected to some convergence acceleration methods. Con tinued fractions are also used in number theory, computer science, automata, electronics, etc ...

One of the most authoritative and comprehensive books on the subject of continued fractions, this monograph has been widely used by generations of mathematicians and their students. Dr. Hubert Stanley Wall presents a unified theory correlating certain parts and applications of the subject within a larger analytic structure. Prerequisites include a first course in function theory and knowledge of the elementary properties of linear transformations in the complex plane. Some background in number theory, real analysis, and complex analysis may also prove helpful. The two-part treatment begins with an exploration of convergence theory, addressing continued fractions as products of linear fractional transformations, convergence theorems, and the theory of positive definite continued fractions, as well as other topics. The second part, focusing on function theory, covers the theory of equations, matrix theory of continued fractions, bounded analytic functions, and many additional subjects.

This volume presents the contributions from the international conference held at the University of Missouri at Columbia, marking Professor Lange's 70th birthday and his retirement from the university. The principal purpose of the conference was to focus on continued fractions as a common interdisciplinary theme bridging gaps between a large number of fields-from pure mathematics to mathematical physics and approximation theory. Evident in this work is the widespread influence of continued fractions in a broad range of areas of mathematics and physics, including number theory, elliptic functions, Padé approximations, orthogonal polynomials, moment problems, frequency analysis, and regularity properties of evolution equations. Different areas of current research are represented. The lectures at the conference and the contributions to this volume reflect the wide range of applicability of continued fractions in mathematics and the applied sciences.