Considerable information about aerosol particle size and composition can be extracted from information contained in light scattered from particulates.  We are using techniques based on polarized light scattering to extract particle size, shape, orientation, and complex optical constants (refractive and absorbing).  The technique and lessons learned from its application to diesel particle smoke, paper fibers, marine aerosols, materials processing, and polymerization of sickle cell hemoglobin will be discussed.