Exact constants in approximation theory

This book is intended as a self-contained introduction for non-specialists, or as a reference work for experts, to the particular area of approximation theory that is concerned with exact constants. The results apply mainly to extremal problems in approximation theory, which in turn are closely related to numerical analysis and optimization. The book encompasses a wide range of questions and problems: best approximation by polynomials and splines; linear approximation methods, such as spline-approximation; optimal reconstruction of functions and linear functionals. Many of the results are base