Considers how physicists apply intuition to problems that appear to defy rigorous analysis, contrary to conventional notions of science, and come up with believable answers. Four review papers on general topics are followed by 23 research reports treating such areas as polymer physics, crystallograp

A humoristic view of the physics of soft matter, which nevertheless has a ring of truth to it, is that it is an ill-defined subject which deals with ill-condensed matter by ill-defined methods. Although, since the Nobel prize was awarded to Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, this subject can be no longer shrugged-away as "sludge physics" by the physics community, it is still not viewed universally as "main- stream" physics. While, at first glance, this may be considered as another example of inertia, a case of the "establishment" against the "newcomer," the roots of this prejudice are much deeper and...