In a textbook for a course introducing the calculus of variables at the senior or first-year graduate level, Kot has particularly in mind students of applied mathematics, physics, and engineering. He includes many examples from fields such as mechanics and optics, and because students have a strong interest in applications, he introduces constraints earlier than other textbooks. He begins by tracing how the calculus of variation developed historically. His topics include the first variation, base generalizations, the homogeneous problem, variable-endpoint conditions, broken extremals, and sufficient conditions. Annotation ©2014 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)