This book develops the theory of global attractors for a class of parabolic PDEs which includes reaction-diffusion equations and the Navier-Stokes equations, two examples that are treated in detail. A lengthy chapter on Sobolev spaces provides the framework that allows a rigorous treatment of existence and uniqueness of solutions for both linear time-independent problems (Poisson's equation) and the nonlinear evolution equations which generate the infinite-dimensional dynamical systems of the title. Attention then switches to the global attractor, a finite-dimensional subset of the infinite-dimensional phase space which determines the asymptotic dynamics. In particular, the concluding chapters investigate in what sense the dynamics restricted to the attractor are themselves 'finite-dimensional'. The book is intended as a didactic text for first year graduates, and assumes only a basic knowledge of Banach and Hilbert spaces, and a working understanding of the Lebesgue integral.

'… will certainly benefit young researchers entering the described field.' Jan Cholewa, Zentralblatt MATH
'This impressive book offers an excellent, self-contained introduction to many important aspects of infinite-dimensional systems … At the outset, the author states that his aim was to produce a didactic text suitable or first-year graduate students. Unquestionably he has achieved his goal. This book should prove invaluable to mathematicians wishing to gain some knowledge of the dynamical-systems approach to dissipative partial differential equations that has been developed during the past 20 years, and should be essential reading for any graduate student starting out on a PhD in this area.' W. Lamb, Proceedings of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society
'The book is written clearly and concisely. It is well structured, and the material is presented in a rigorous, coherent fashion. A number of example problems are treated, and each chapter is followed by a series of problems whose solutions are available on the internet. … constitutes an excellent resource for researchers and advanced graduate students in applied mathematics, dynamical systems, nonlinear dynamics, and computational mechanics. Its acquisition by libraries is strongly recommended.' Applied Mechanics Reviews