This paper presents a linear-response theory for Coulomb-blockade oscillations in the conductance of a quantum dot. The theory extends the classical theory of Coulomb-blockade oscillations by Kulik and Shekhter to the resonant-tunneling regime. It considers both cases of negligible and strong inelastic scattering in the quantum dot and includes effects from the non-Fermi-Dirac distribution of electrons among energy levels when kT is comparable to the level separation. Explicit analytic results are obtained for the periodicity, amplitude, line shape, and activation energy of the conductance oscillations. The Coulomb blockade occurs when the charging energy suppresses conduction due to the electrostatic repulsion of individual electrons. This phenomenon can be removed by capacitive charging of the region between two tunnel barriers. The series conductance of the tunnel junctions shows oscillations as a function of the gate voltage due to the periodic modulation of the charging energy. The paper analyzes the conductance of a quantum dot in the linear-response regime, where the source-drain voltage is vanishingly small. The charging energy manifests itself in the nonlinear current-voltage characteristics as a stepwise increase known as the Coulomb staircase. The theory accounts for the discrete energy spectrum of the quantum dot, which is different from the Fermi-Dirac distribution when kT is comparable to the level separation. The paper derives the conductance formula for the quantum dot in the classical and resonant tunneling regimes. In the classical regime, the conductance is determined by the Fermi-Dirac distribution, while in the resonant tunneling regime, the conductance is determined by the discrete energy spectrum. The results are applied to the Coulomb-blockade oscillations, where simple analytical expressions are obtained for their periodicity, amplitude, line shape, and activation energy. The paper also considers the effects of inelastic scattering in the quantum dot and shows that the conductance can be calculated exactly and analytically in the linear-response regime. The results are compared with the classical regime and show that the line shapes are different but practically indistinguishable if the temperature is used as a fit parameter. The paper concludes that the measured temperature dependence of the peak height and width in a quantum dot with well-separated energy scales contains all the information needed to extract the values of these characteristic energies.This paper presents a linear-response theory for Coulomb-blockade oscillations in the conductance of a quantum dot. The theory extends the classical theory of Coulomb-blockade oscillations by Kulik and Shekhter to the resonant-tunneling regime. It considers both cases of negligible and strong inelastic scattering in the quantum dot and includes effects from the non-Fermi-Dirac distribution of electrons among energy levels when kT is comparable to the level separation. Explicit analytic results are obtained for the periodicity, amplitude, line shape, and activation energy of the conductance oscillations. The Coulomb blockade occurs when the charging energy suppresses conduction due to the electrostatic repulsion of individual electrons. This phenomenon can be removed by capacitive charging of the region between two tunnel barriers. The series conductance of the tunnel junctions shows oscillations as a function of the gate voltage due to the periodic modulation of the charging energy. The paper analyzes the conductance of a quantum dot in the linear-response regime, where the source-drain voltage is vanishingly small. The charging energy manifests itself in the nonlinear current-voltage characteristics as a stepwise increase known as the Coulomb staircase. The theory accounts for the discrete energy spectrum of the quantum dot, which is different from the Fermi-Dirac distribution when kT is comparable to the level separation. The paper derives the conductance formula for the quantum dot in the classical and resonant tunneling regimes. In the classical regime, the conductance is determined by the Fermi-Dirac distribution, while in the resonant tunneling regime, the conductance is determined by the discrete energy spectrum. The results are applied to the Coulomb-blockade oscillations, where simple analytical expressions are obtained for their periodicity, amplitude, line shape, and activation energy. The paper also considers the effects of inelastic scattering in the quantum dot and shows that the conductance can be calculated exactly and analytically in the linear-response regime. The results are compared with the classical regime and show that the line shapes are different but practically indistinguishable if the temperature is used as a fit parameter. The paper concludes that the measured temperature dependence of the peak height and width in a quantum dot with well-separated energy scales contains all the information needed to extract the values of these characteristic energies.