This volume collects a series of survey articles on complex algebraic geometry, which in the early 1990s was undergoing a major change. Algebraic geometry has opened up to ideas and connections from other fields that have traditionally been far away. This book gives a good idea of the intellectual content of the change of direction and branching out witnessed by algebraic geometry in the past few years.

This title is written as a book of impressions'' of a journey through the theory of complex algebraic curves. A cursory glance at the subjects visited reveals an apparently eclectic selection, from conics and cubics to theta functions, Jacobians, and questions of moduli, but by the end of the book, the theme of theta functions becomes clear, culminating in the Schottky problem. The author's intent was to motivate further study and to stimulate mathematical activity.

This volume collects a series of survey articles on complex algebraic geometry, which in the early 1990s was undergoing a major change. Algebraic geometry has opened up to ideas and connections from other fields that have traditionally been far away. This book gives a good idea of the intellectual content of the change of direction and branching out witnessed by algebraic geometry in the past few years.