The ACM Symposium on Solid and Physical Modeling is an annual forum that brings together researchers from all over the world to present and discuss new results in creating, analyzing, and controlling the shape, structure, and behavior of solid objects. This not only includes the traditional design, representation, visualization, and use of digital models of solid objects and of their bounding surfaces but also encompasses their physical properties, physical simulation, and animation. This broadened focus of the symposium is reflected in the change of the symposium’s name (back at its inception in 1991 it was called Symposium on Solid Modeling and Applications) but also in an extended program with special tracks on biomedical applications, on physical modeling and simulation, and on design and manufacturing. This special issue of Graphical Models presents a selection of papers that were presented at the 10th Symposium, which was held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA, on June 13–15, 2005. The symposium was co-chaired by Ralph Martin from Cardiff University, UK and Jarrek Rossignac, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, USA. On the program committee the cochairs Leif Kobbelt, RWTH Aachen University, Germany, and Vadim Shapiro, University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA, were supported by 62 international experts from academia and industry. A total of 59 papers have been submitted, each of which was reviewed by at least three program committee members or additional external reviewers. Of these submissions, 23 were accepted as full papers and 6 as technical sketches. After the conference, the program chairs selected some outstanding