This book provides a historical account of the discovery in 1834 of a remarkable singular wave that was ultimately to lead to the development of modern soliton theory with its diverse physical applications. In terms of associated geometry, the classical work of Bäcklund and Bianchi and its consequences is recounted, notably with regard to nonlinear superposition principles, which later were shown to be generic to soliton systems and which provide the analytic description of complex multi-soliton interaction.

Whereas the applications of modern soliton in certain areas of physics are well-documented, deep connections between soliton theory and nonlinear continuum mechanics have had a separate development. This book describes wide applications in such disparate areas as elastostatics, elastodynamics, superelasticity, shell theory, magnetohydrostatics and magnetohydrodynamics, and will appeal to research scientists and advanced students with an interest in integrable systems in nonlinear physics or continuum mechanics.