The volume contains papers based on lectures delivered during the school "Per- spectives in Control Theory" held in Sielpia, Poland on September 19-24, 1988. The aim of the school was to give the state-of-the-art presentation of recent achievements as weH as perspectives in such fields of control theory as optimal control and optimization, linear systems, and nonlinear systems. Accordingly, the volume includes survey papers together with presentations of some recent results. The special emphasis is put on: - nonlinear systems (algebraic and geometric methods), - optimal control and...