Preface * Basics * Sequences * Series * The Topology of the Real Line * Limits and the Continuity of Functions * The Derivative * The Integral * Sequences and Series of Functions * Some Special Functions * Advanced Topics * Differential Equations * Glossary of Terms from Real Variable Theory * List of Notation * A Guide to the Literature * Bibliography * Index

This concise, well-written handbook provides a distillation of real variable theory with a particular focus on the subject's significant applications to differential equations and Fourier analysis. Ample examples and brief explanations---with very few proofs and little axiomatic machinery---are used to highlight all the major results of real analysis, from the basics of sequences and series to the more advanced concepts of Taylor and Fourier series, Baire Category, and the Weierstrass Approximation Theorem. Replete with realistic, meaningful applications to differential equations, boundary value problems, and Fourier analysis, this unique work is a practical, hands-on manual of real analysis that is ideal for physicists, engineers, economists, and others who wish to use the fruits of real analysis but who do not necessarily have the time to appreciate all of the theory. Valuable as a comprehensive reference, a study guide for students, or a quick review, "A Handbook of Real Variables" will benefit a wide audience.