In this paper we give a characterization theorem for the reciprocal Dunford-Pettis property as defined by Grothendieck. The relationship of this property to Pelczynski's property V is examined. In particular it is shown that every Banach space with property V has the reciprocal Dunford-Pettis property and an example is given to show that the converse fails to hold. Moreover the characterizations of property V and the reciprocal Dunford-Pettis property lead to the definitions of property V* and property RDP* respectively. Me compare and contrast results for the reciprocal Dunford-Pettis property and property RDP* with those for properties V and V*. In the final chapter we use a result of Brooks to obtain a characterization for the Radon-Nikodým property.

The method of dual steepest descent is used to solve ordinary differential equations with nonlinear boundary conditions. A general boundary condition is B(u) = 0 where where B is a continuous functional on the nth order Sobolev space Hn[0.1J. If F:HnCO,l] —• L2[0,1] represents a 2 differential equation, define *(u) = 1/2 IIF < u) li and £(u) = 1/2 l!B(u)ll2. Steepest descent is applied to the functional 2 £ a * + £. Two special cases are considered. If f:lR —• R is C^(2), a Type I boundary condition is defined by B(u) = f(u(0),u(1)). Given K: [0,1}xR—•and g: [0,1] —• R of bounded variation, a Type II boundary condition is B(u) = ƒ1/0K(x,u(x))dg(x).