Book excerpt: The unique feature of this book is that it considers the theory of partial differential equations in mathematical physics as the language of continuous processes, that is, as an interdisciplinary science that treats the hierarchy of mathematical phenomena as reflections of their physical counterparts. Special attention is drawn to tracing the development of these mathematical phenomena in different natural sciences, with examples drawn from continuum mechanics, electrodynamics, transport phenomena, thermodynamics, and chemical kinetics. At the same time, the authors trace the interrelation between the different types of problems - elliptic, parabolic, and hyperbolic - as the mathematical counterparts of stationary and evolutionary processes. This combination of mathematical comprehensiveness and natural scientific motivation represents a step forward in the presentation of the classical theory of PDEs, one that will be appreciated by both students and researchers alike.