Soo T. Tan has published numerous papers in Optimal Control Theory and Numerical Analysis. He received his S.B. degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, his M.S. degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and his Ph.D. from the University of California at Los Angeles. "One of the most important lessons I learned from my early experience teaching these courses is that many of the students come into these courses with some degree of apprehension. This awareness led to the intuitive approach I have adopted in all of my texts."