This monograph describes comprehensively and in sufficient detail both the theory and observation of gravitational lensing, an effect that is of growing importance for astronomical observations and cosmological modelling. This book is the first monograph (outside the USSR) on this topic.

Inhalt
1 Introduction.- 2 Basic facts and the observational situation.- 3 Optics in curved spacetime.- 4 Derivation of the lens equation.- 5 Properties of the lens mapping.- 6 Lensing near critical points.- 7 Wave optics in gravitational lensing.- 8 Simple lens models.- 9 Multiple light deflection.- 10 Numerical methods.- 11 Statistical gravitational lensing: General considerations.- 12 Statistical gravitational lensing: Applications.- 13 Gravitational lenses as astrophysical tools.- References.- Index of Individual Objects.