Plane Anisotropy by the Polar Method*

This paper is a critical review of the so-called polar method, a mathematical technique based upon tensor invariants introduced as early as 1979 by Professor G. Verchery to treat anisotropic plane problems. The paper contains a brief presentation of the method and a summary of some results obtained by the author and co-workers in some problems mainly concerning elasticity and the elastic design of composite laminates.