variations, optimal control theory, and dynamic programming in its discrete form are explained in the usual Chiang fashion--with patience and thoroughness. The economic examples, selected from both classical and recent literature, serve not only to illustrate applications of the mathematical methods, but also to provide a useful glimpse of the development of thinking in several areas of economics. Outstanding features include: (1) written with clarity and a comparable level of expository patience; (2) reinforces discussions of mathematical techniques with numerical illustrations, economic examples, and exercise problems; (3) presents a simple problem with a well- known solution in several different alternative formulations in the numerical illustrations; and (4) explains economic models in a step-by-step manner (from the initial construction through the intricacies of mathematical analysis to its final solution). Titles of related interest also available from Waveland Press: Ekelund-Hebert, A History of Economic Theory and Method, Fifth Edition (ISBN 9781577664864); and Gramlich, A Guide to Benefit-Cost Analysis, Second Edition (ISBN 9780881339888).

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