  Solar type III radio bursts are an important diagnostic tool in the
understanding of solar accelerated electron beams. They are a signature of
propagating beams of nonthermal electrons in the solar atmosphere and the solar
system. Consequently, they provide information on electron acceleration and
transport, and the conditions of the background ambient plasma they travel
through. We review the observational properties of type III bursts with an
emphasis on recent results and how each property can help identify attributes
of electron beams and the ambient background plasma. We also review some of the
theoretical aspects of type III radio bursts and cover a number of numerical
efforts that simulate electron beam transport through the solar corona and the
heliosphere.
