Given an ordered Banach space ℬ equipped with an order-norm we construct a larger space ℬ¯ with an order-norm and order-identity such that B is isometrically order-isomorphic to a Banach subspace of B. We also discuss the extension of positive operators from ℬto ℬ¯.

A Banach space is an Asplund space if every continuous convex function on an open convex subset is Fréchet differentiable on a dense G8 subset of its domain. The recent research on the Radon-Nikodým property in Banach spaces has revealed that a Banach space is an Asplund space if and only if every separable subspace has separable dual. It would appear that there is a case for providing a more direct proof of this characterisation.

A subspace of a Banach space is called an operator range if it is the continuous linear image of a Banach space. Operator ranges and operator ideals with fixed range space are investigated. Properties of strictly singular, strictly cosingular, weakly sequentially precompact, and other classes of operators are derived. Perturbation theory and closed semi-Fredholm operators are discussed in the final section.

A generalization and simplification of F. John's theorem on ellipsoids of minimum volume is proven. An application shows that for 1 ≤ p < 2, there is a subspace E of Lp and a λ > 1 such that 1E has no λ-unconditional decomposition in terms of rank one operators.

If a Banach space E admits a Markuschevich basis, then E can be renormed to be locally uniformly rotund. When the coefficient space of the basis is 1-norming, and this norm is very smooth, E is weakly compactly generated.

A flat spot in a Banach space X is an element x ∈ Sx = {x ∈ X: ‖x‖ = 1} with the property that the infimum m(x) of the lengths of all curves in Sx joining x to −x is 2. Flat spots occur in every non-superreflexive space when suitably renormed. A study is made of the geometric implications of the existence of flat spots. Connections with other notions such as differentiability, decomposition constants and Kadec-Klee norms are explored and some renorming results for non-superreflexive spaces are proved.

For normed linear spaces two similar characterizations of strong differentiability of the norm and rotundity of the dual space are established, but it is shown that in general there is no causal relation between these two concepts.

Let ˜ be an equivalence relation on a topological space X. A point x ε X i s stable with respect to ˜ if it is in the interior of an equivalence class. We may also add, if ambiguity arises, that x is stable under perturbations in X. Let E be a Banach space, and let L(E) be the Banach space of continuous linear endomorphisms of E, with norm given by |T| = sup{ |T(x) | : |x| = 1}. In this paper we discuss stability of elements of L(E) with respect to some natural equivalence relations.