Here, in this set of eighteen extended lectures, an attempt has been made to present in readable and digested rigorous form some of the cardinal ideas underlying the synthesis of both lumped-passive and a significant subset of linear lumped-distributed passive networks.

As is inevitably almost always the case, the work has evolved from the author's own research, as well as the now classical contributions of many others, which we undoubtedly inadequately acknowledge in the references.

Although it is assumed that the reader's grasp of circuit theory is strictly undergraduate, I do suppose that their mathematical maturity suffices to encourage further growth. To help promote this growth is the object of Chapter 1 and the several appendices incorporated throughout the body of the book.

Also, an earnest attempt has been made to avoid unnecessary overlap with the presently available standard texts. For example, almost nothing is said about the foundations of approximation theory, especially as it pertains to the choice of suitable gain functions. On the other hand, a great deal of hard-to-obtain useful information regarding the theoretical description of multiconductor TEM transmission lines is developed in great detail.

To ensure proper understanding, a large number of illustrative examples and problems, some quite challenging, are worked out with all necessary intermediate steps included. Experience indicates that the first twelve chapters can be covered comfortably in a two-semester graduate course that meets 3 hours per week.

Finally, I wish to express sincere gratitude to Eve Henderson, to my colleague, Professor Unnikrishna Pillai, and to his charming and talented daughter Priya Pillai who is totally responsible for the elegant and attractive cover design. Without Eve's help many crucial software issues could never have been resolved. The appearance of an index is owed completely to Professor Pillai's insistence, efforts, and persuasive arguments. Needless to say, the encouragement by my colleagues and the resources provided by the Electrical Engineering Department have proved to be decisive in this endeavor.