This book describes the research done on the problems of Benard convection, as well as its modern offspring the RayleighSHBenard problem, and Taylor vortices. Benard convection differs from RayleighSHBenard convection by the presence of surface tension, whilst Benard convection is characterized by parallel rolls. Toroidal vortices characterize Taylor vortex flow. Convection and Taylor vortex flow deal with the consequences of the presence of infinitesimal disturbances in a fluid layer. Both problems are classical examples in the theory of hydrodynamic stability and share many features.