Control of nonlinear systems, one of the most active research areas in control theory, has always been a domain of natural convergence of research interests in applied mathematics and control engineering. The theory has developed from the early phase of its history, when the basic tool was essentially only the Lyapunov second method, to the present day, where the mathematics ranges from differential geometry, calculus of variations, ordinary and partial differential equations, functional analysis, abstract algebra and stochastic processes, while the applications to advanced engineering design...