Quasiconformal Mappings and Analysis

In August 1995 an international symposium on "Quasiconformal Mappings and Analysis" was held in Ann Arbor on the occasion of Professor Fred- erick W. Gehring's 70th birthday and his impending retirement from the Mathematics Department at the University of Michigan. The concept of the symposium was to feature broad survey talks on a wide array of topics related to Gehring's basic research contributions in the field of quasicon- formal mappings, emphasizing their relations to other parts of analysis. Principal speakers were Kari Astala, Albert Baernstein, Clifford Earle, Pe- ter Jones, Irwin Kra, OUi Lehto, Gaven Martin, Dennis Sullivan, and Jussi Vaisala. Financial support was provided by the National Science Founda- tion, with additional grants from the University of Michigan and from the Institute for Mathematics and its Applications. The symposium was a great success. The speakers rose to the occasion and presented excellent survey lectures. The present volume was conceived as a means for disseminating those expositions to a wider audience. Ad- ditional mathematicians, some of whom had not been able to attend the symposium, were invited to contribute similar articles. The result is a fit- ting tribute to Fred Gehring's pre-eminent role in developing the theory of quasiconformal mappings, through his own research and writings and lec- tures, and through his supervision of graduate students. The volume begins with descriptions of Gehring's mathematical career and an overview of his research achievements.