Selected papers. With brief biographical sketches by W. E. Sewell, D. V. Widder and Morris Marden and commentaries by Q. I. Rahman, P. M. Gauthier, Dieter Gaier, Walter Schempp and the editors. Edited by Theodore J. Rivlin and Edward B. Saff (Q4945852)

In this volume 45 papers by Joseph Leonard Walsh (1895 - 1973), selected from total 281, are reprinted. No excerpts from Walsh's 7 books appear. The material is ordered following the evolution of Walsh's work. To each chapter there are appended valuable experts' commentaries on Walsh's papers and on further researches influenced by them. From the Preface p. \(vi^{6-8}\): ``The editors of this volume, Ph.D. students of Professor Walsh at Harvard University (1953) and at the University of Maryland (1968), respectively, were motivated to prepare it by our affection for our teacher and respect for his achievements.'' The book begins with the bibliography of the articles and the books by Joseph L. Walsh which is followed by the list of his 31 Ph.D. students. Then there is a biography of Walsh and summary of his work by \textit{M. Marden}, his first Ph.D. student (1928), complemented by the articles by \textit{D. V. Widder} and \textit{W. E. Sewell} (Ph.D. student, 1936), both of them being dedicated to Professor J. L. Walsh on the occasion of his seventieth birthday. The reprints of the selected papers are divided into seven broad sections. The contents of the sections follows. 1. Zeros and Critical Points of Polynomials and Rational Functions (5 papers; Comm. on particular papers by \textit{Q. I. Rahman} (p. 99-106).) 2. Walsh Functions. (1 paper: A closed set of normal orthogonal functions, Am. J. Math. 45, 5-24 (1923); Comm. by: \textit{T. Schipp} (p. 129-135) -- stressing, in particular, the impact of Walsh functions on modern mathematics (probability theory, harmonic analysis, functional analysis) and on technical applications of them, with ref. of 37 items; \textit{T. J. Rivlin} (p. 135-138) -- containing, among others, the opening remarks by Professor Walsh at the 1969 Symposium on ``Application of Walsh Functions'' (Washington, D.C.) concerning ``the historical situation regarding orthogonal functions at the beginning of the twentieth century'' (p. \(136_{17-16}\)).) 3. Qualitative Approximation. (5 papers; Comm. by \textit{P. M. Gauthier} (p. 247-254), with ref. of 31 items.) 4. Conformal Mapping. (8 papers; Comm. by \textit{D. Gaier} (p. 369-380), focused on the topics: geometry of level curves, conformal mapping near the boundary, conformal mapping of multiply connected domains, with ref. of 38 items.) 5. Polynomial Approximation. (10 papers; Comm. on particular papers by \textit{T. J. Rivlin} (p. 467-464), with ref. of 26 items.) 6. Rational Approximation. (9 papers; Comm. by \textit{E. B. Saff} (p. 631-640), with nearly 70 ref.) 7. Spline Functions. (3 papers; Comm. by \textit{W. Schempp} (p. 680-682).) The volume is very well invented and edited. It will serve as a fundamental reference not only for researchers working on problems which belong to the mathematical legacy of Joseph L. Walsh.