The subject of Elasticity can be approached from several points of view, depending on whether the practitioner is principally interested in the mathematicalstructure of the subject or in its use in engineering applications and in the latter case, whether essentially numerical or analytical methods are envisaged as the solution method. My first introduction to the subject was in response to a need for information about a specific problem in Tribology. As a practising engineer with a background only in elementary Strength of Materials, I approached that problem initially using the con- cepts of...