The mathematical theory of networks and systems has a long, and rich history, with antecedents in circuit synthesis and the analysis, design and synthesis of actuators, sensors and active elements in both electrical and mechanical systems. Fundamental paradigms such as the state-space real ization of an input/output system, or the use of feedback to prescribe the behavior of a closed-loop system have proved to be as resilient to change as were the practitioners who used them. This volume celebrates the resiliency to change of the fundamental con cepts underlying the mathematical theory of networks and systems. The articles presented here are among those presented as plenary addresses, invited addresses and minisymposia presented at the 12th International Symposium on the Mathematical Theory of Networks and Systems, held in St. Louis, Missouri from June 24 - 28, 1996. Incorporating models and methods drawn from biology, computing, materials science and math ematics, these articles have been written by leading researchers who are on the vanguard of the development of systems, control and estimation for the next century, as evidenced by the application of new methodologies in distributed parameter systems, linear nonlinear systems and stochastic sys tems for solving problems in areas such as aircraft design, circuit simulation, imaging, speech synthesis and visionics."

The purpose of this annual series, Applied and Computational Control, Signals, and Circuits, is to keep abreast of the fast-paced developments in computational mathematics and scientific computing and their increasing use by researchers and engineers in control, signals, and circuits. The series is dedicated to fostering effective communication between mathematicians, computer scientists, computational scientists, software engineers, theorists, and practicing engineers. This interdisciplinary scope is meant to blend areas of mathematics (such as linear algebra, operator theory, and certain branches of analysis) and computational mathematics (numerical linear algebra, numerical differential equations, large scale and parallel matrix computations, numerical optimization) with control and systems theory, signal and image processing, and circuit analysis and design. The disciplines mentioned above have long enjoyed a natural synergy. There are distinguished journals in the fields of control and systems the ory, as well as signal processing and circuit theory, which publish high quality papers on mathematical and engineering aspects of these areas; however, articles on their computational and applications aspects appear only sporadically. At the same time, there has been tremendous recent growth and development of computational mathematics, scientific comput ing, and mathematical software, and the resulting sophisticated techniques are being gradually adapted by engineers, software designers, and other scientists to the needs of those applied disciplines."

The mathematical theory of networks and systems has a long, and rich history, with antecedents in circuit synthesis and the analysis, design and synthesis of actuators, sensors and active elements in both electrical and mechanical systems. Fundamental paradigms such as the state-space real ization of an input/output system, or the use of feedback to prescribe the behavior of a closed-loop system have proved to be as resilient to change as were the practitioners who used them. This volume celebrates the resiliency to change of the fundamental con cepts underlying the mathematical theory of networks and systems. The articles presented here are among those presented as plenary addresses, invited addresses and minisymposia presented at the 12th International Symposium on the Mathematical Theory of Networks and Systems, held in St. Louis, Missouri from June 24 - 28, 1996. Incorporating models and methods drawn from biology, computing, materials science and math ematics, these articles have been written by leading researchers who are on the vanguard of the development of systems, control and estimation for the next century, as evidenced by the application of new methodologies in distributed parameter systems, linear nonlinear systems and stochastic sys tems for solving problems in areas such as aircraft design, circuit simulation, imaging, speech synthesis and visionics."

The purpose of this annual series, Applied and Computational Control, Signals, and Circuits, is to keep abreast of the fast-paced developments in computational mathematics and scientific computing and their increasing use by researchers and engineers in control, signals, and circuits. The series is dedicated to fostering effective communication between mathematicians, computer scientists, computational scientists, software engineers, theorists, and practicing engineers. This interdisciplinary scope is meant to blend areas of mathematics (such as linear algebra, operator theory, and certain branches of analysis) and computational mathematics (numerical linear algebra, numerical differential equations, large scale and parallel matrix computations, numerical optimization) with control and systems theory, signal and image processing, and circuit analysis and design. The disciplines mentioned above have long enjoyed a natural synergy. There are distinguished journals in the fields of control and systems the ory, as well as signal processing and circuit theory, which publish high quality papers on mathematical and engineering aspects of these areas; however, articles on their computational and applications aspects appear only sporadically. At the same time, there has been tremendous recent growth and development of computational mathematics, scientific comput ing, and mathematical software, and the resulting sophisticated techniques are being gradually adapted by engineers, software designers, and other scientists to the needs of those applied disciplines."