Roberto Piazza says: 'Physics should be made simple enough to be amusing, but not so trivial as to spoil the fun.' This is exactly the approach of this book in making the science of 'soft matter' relevant to everyday life things such as the food we eat, the plastic we use, the concrete we build with, the cells we are made of.

Roberto Piazza trained as a physicist at the school of Vittorio Degiorgio, and is now a professor of Condensed Matter Physics at the Politecnico di Milano, Italy, Associate Editor of the European Physical Journal E and coordinator of the European Space Agency's Topical Team for 'Applications of colloids in microgravity' of the European Space Agency. He has made important contributions to research on nanoparticle suspensions, polymer and surfactant solutions and  biological macromolecules. He is not only a gifted physicists, but equally well versed in history and literature.