Topological Introduction to Nonlinear Analysis

Nonlinear analysis is a remarkable mixture of topology, analysis and applied mathematics. Mathematicians have good reason to become acquainted with this important, rapidly developing subject. But it is a BIG subject. You can feel it: just hold Eberhard Zeidler's Nonlinear Functional Analysis and Its Applications I: Fixed Point Theorems [Z} in your hand. It's heavy, as a 900 page book must be. Yet this is no encyclopedia; the preface accurately describes the ' ... very careful selection of material ... ' it contains. And what you are holding is only Part I of a five-part work. So how do you get started learning nonlinear analysis? Zeidler's book has a first page, and some people are quite comfortable beginning right there. For an alternative, the bibliography in [Z], which is 42 pages long, contains exposition as well as research results: monographs that explain portions of the subject to a variety of audiences. In particular, [D} covers much of the material of Zeidler's book. What makes this book different? The answer is in three parts: this book is (i) topological (ii) goal-oriented and (iii) a model of its subject.