  Homothetic scalar field collapse is considered in this article. By making a
suitable choice of variables the equations are reduced to an autonomous system.
Then using a combination of numerical and analytic techniques it is shown that
there are two classes of solutions. The first consists of solutions with a
non-singular origin in which the scalar field collapses and disperses again.
There is a singularity at one point of these solutions, however it is not
visible to observers at finite radius. The second class of solutions includes
both black holes and naked singularities with a critical evolution (which is
neither) interpolating between these two extremes. The properties of these
solutions are discussed in detail. The paper also contains some speculation
about the significance of self-similarity in recent numerical studies.
