Book excerpt: There are two parts to the book. In the first part, a complete introduction of various kinds of a priori estimate methods for the Dirichlet problem of second order elliptic partial differential equations is presented. In the second part, the existence and regularity theories of the Dirichlet problem for linear and nonlinear second order elliptic partial differential systems are introduced. The book features appropriate materials and is an excellent textbook for graduate students. The volume is also useful as a reference source for undergraduate mathematics majors, graduate students, professors, and scientists.