Author's Preface to the Russian Edition This book is written for advanced students, for predoctoral graduate stu- dents, and for professional scientists-mathematicians, physicists, and chemists-who desire to study the foundations of the theory of finite- dimensional representations of groups. We suppose that the reader is familiar with linear algebra, with elementary mathematical analysis, and with the theory of analytic functions. All else that is needed for reading this book is set down in the book where it is needed or is provided for by references to standard texts. The first two chapters...