The provided text is the preface and table of contents for a book titled "Classical Orthogonal Polynomials of a Discrete Variable" by A.F. Nikiforov, S.K. Suslov, and V.B. Uvarov. The book is part of the Springer Series in Computational Physics and is edited by C. A. J. Fletcher, R. Glowinski, W. Hillebrandt, M. Holt, P. Hut, H. B. Keller, J. Killeen, S. A. Orszag, and V. V. Rusanov. The preface highlights the importance of classical orthogonal polynomials in various fields of physics and mathematics, including atomic, molecular, and nuclear physics, electrodynamics, and acoustics. These polynomials are solutions to hypergeometric-type differential equations and are used in computational mathematics, probability theory, coding theory, and information compression. The book aims to provide a systematic and concise presentation of the theory of polynomial solutions to hypergeometric-type difference equations, including their properties, applications, and connections to other areas of mathematics and physics. The table of contents outlines the structure of the book, which is divided into several chapters. Chapter 1 reviews the theory of classical orthogonal polynomials (Jacobi, Laguerre, and Hermite polynomials) and their properties. Chapter 2 introduces the difference equation of hypergeometric type and discusses the Hahn, Meixner, Kravchuk, and Charlier polynomials. Chapter 3 generalizes the difference equation to nonuniform lattices and explores the properties of polynomial solutions. Chapters 4, 5, and 6 focus on applications, including quadrature formulas, information compression, spherical harmonics, and representations of the rotation group. The book is intended for specialists in theoretical and mathematical physics, computational mathematics, and related fields.The provided text is the preface and table of contents for a book titled "Classical Orthogonal Polynomials of a Discrete Variable" by A.F. Nikiforov, S.K. Suslov, and V.B. Uvarov. The book is part of the Springer Series in Computational Physics and is edited by C. A. J. Fletcher, R. Glowinski, W. Hillebrandt, M. Holt, P. Hut, H. B. Keller, J. Killeen, S. A. Orszag, and V. V. Rusanov. The preface highlights the importance of classical orthogonal polynomials in various fields of physics and mathematics, including atomic, molecular, and nuclear physics, electrodynamics, and acoustics. These polynomials are solutions to hypergeometric-type differential equations and are used in computational mathematics, probability theory, coding theory, and information compression. The book aims to provide a systematic and concise presentation of the theory of polynomial solutions to hypergeometric-type difference equations, including their properties, applications, and connections to other areas of mathematics and physics. The table of contents outlines the structure of the book, which is divided into several chapters. Chapter 1 reviews the theory of classical orthogonal polynomials (Jacobi, Laguerre, and Hermite polynomials) and their properties. Chapter 2 introduces the difference equation of hypergeometric type and discusses the Hahn, Meixner, Kravchuk, and Charlier polynomials. Chapter 3 generalizes the difference equation to nonuniform lattices and explores the properties of polynomial solutions. Chapters 4, 5, and 6 focus on applications, including quadrature formulas, information compression, spherical harmonics, and representations of the rotation group. The book is intended for specialists in theoretical and mathematical physics, computational mathematics, and related fields.