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This chapter uses the methods of classical electromagnetic theory to investigate the forward and inverse problems in electrocardiography. The forward problem is the computation of the potential distribution on the surface of the body generated by assumed sources which represent the electrical activity of the heart. The inverse problem, useful in the diagnostic interpretation of observed data, deals with the determination of the electrical source from the observed potentials. The chapter opens with an introduction to the methods of standard electrocardiography. The subsequent discussion of the forward and inverse problems is illustrated graphically with many data-based examples. Solution of the forward problem requires (1) characterization of the electric generator of the heart's activity and (2) consideration of the volume conductor effects of the passive tissues surrounding the active sources. Source models are treated by multipole expansions of the volume integral of the current source density produced by the heart or by two-dimensional layer dipole methods. Practical calculations of volume conductor effects are treated by specialized numerical methods in order to correctly represent the changes in electrical conductivity caused by the surface of the torso and by the surfaces bounding the lungs and ventricular cavities. Unlike the forward problem, the inverse problem does not, in general, have a unique solution. However three specific approaches to useful solutions are discussed. (1) Moment-based methods and, in particular, the theory of Gabor and Nelson can be applied to invert the multipole expansion techniques used to solve the forward problem. (2) Correlation based methods can be used to quantify the differences between simulated and observed potentials. (3) In parameter estimation methods, parameter values are varied until the simulated data most closely resemble those observed. For the entire collection see [Zbl 0867.92011].