In an effort to bring the calculus of variations to advanced undergraduates, the authors have taken material from a workshop at Rice University to produce this introduction to such topics as Morse theory, wave mechanics, minimal surfaces, soap bubbles, and modeling traffic flow. They begin by defining "variations" with calculus, and continue with lively descriptions and examples. Each section contains its own references. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)