The main purpose of this volume is to give an exposition of various aspects of meromorphic functions and linear series on algebraic curves, with some emphasis on families of meromorphic functions. It is written in such a wayas to facilitate their applications in other areas of mathematics. Meromorphic functions on a compact Riemann surface, or, more generally, holomorphic curves and linear series, have numerous applications in many different areas of mathematics. This work gives a concise survey of results in the elementary theory of meromorphic functions and divisors on curves, and makes these results more accessible to students and non-experts, in particular differential geometers. Audience: This volume will be of interest to graduate students and researchers in mathematics, especially in algebraic and differential geometry.