  The evolution of the methods used to find solutions of Einstein's field
equations during the last 100 years is described. Early papers used assumptions
on the coordinate forms of the metrics. Since the 1950s more invariant methods
have been deployed in most new papers. The uses to which the solutions found
have been put are discussed, and it is shown that they have played an important
role in the development of many aspects, both mathematical and physical, of
general relativity.
