Preface; 1. Qualitative theory of linear approximation; 2. Qualitative theory of the best rational approximation; 3. Some classical results in the linear theory; 4. Approximation of some important functions; 5. Uniform approximation of some function classes; 6. Converse theorems for rational approximation; 7. Spline approximation and Besov spaces; 8. Relations between rational and spline approximations; 9. Approximation with respect to Hausdorff distance; 10. The o-effect; 11. Lower bounds; 12. Padé approximations; Appendix; References; Author index; Notation and subject index.