The second in a series of three volumes that survey the theory of theta functions, this volume emphasizes the special properties of the theta functions associated with compact Riemann surfaces and how they lead to solutions of the Korteweg-de-Vries equations as well as other non-linear differential equations of mathematical physics.

It presents an explicit elementary construction of hyperelliptic Jacobian varieties and is a self-contained introduction to the theory of the Jacobians. It also ties together nineteenth-century discoveries due to Jacobi, Neumann, and Frobenius with recent discoveries of Gelfand, McKean, Moser, John Fay, and others.