My original introduction to this subject was through conservations, and ultimate ly joint work with C. A. Micchelli. I am grateful to him and to Profs. C. de Boor, E. W. Cheney, S. D. Fisher and A. A. Melkman who read various portions of the manuscript and whose suggestions were most helpful. Errors in accuracy and omissions are totally my responsibility. I would like to express my appreciation to the SERC of Great Britain and to the Department of Mathematics of the University of Lancaster for the year spent there during which large portions of the manuscript were written, and also to the...