Book excerpt: This is a definitive statement of Professor Afriat's achievements in the field of choice and value in economics, an area in which he has contributed more than most. As the topics covered, which include optimal programming, social and individual choice, production, and the market, are both central and fundamental, the book forms a source on basic and current topics in economic theory and mathematical economics for any advanced student of the subject. The work is in six parts: the first four discuss generalities about choice and representative economic topics; the final two are more concerned with straight forwardly mathematical subjects that have an application in economics. A characteristic of the book is its conceptual clarifications for choice, value, and price theory generally, and, for special topics, the novelties and simplifications that are uncovered in already well-trodden ground. -