In this book a detailed and systematic treatment of asymptotic methods in the theory of plates and shells is presented. The main features of the book are the basic principles of asymptotics and their applications, traditional approaches such as regular and singular perturbations, as well as new approaches such as the composite equations approach. The book introduces the reader to the field of asymptotic simplification of the problems of the theory of plates and shells and will be useful as a handbook of methods of asymptotic integration. Providing a state-of-the-art review of asymptotic applications, this book will be useful as an introduction to the field for novices as well as a reference book for specialists. Jan Awrejcewicz is the 2011 winner of the Humboldt Prize. This award is granted from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in Germany. The award is based on a reasearcher's entire achievements to date, whose fundamental discoveries, new theories or insights have had significant impact on their own discipline and who are expected to continue producing cutting-edge achievements in the future. Prof. Awrejcewicz is also the main author of "Nonsmooth Dynamics of Contacting Thermoelastic Bodies", © 2009, Springer (AMMA v. 16), 978-0-387-09562-0. He is also the sole editor of "Modeling, Simulation and Control of Nonlinear Engineering Dynamical Systems", © 2009 Springer, 978-1-4020-8777-6.
