h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Umm, I'm a physical chemist, so I know basic atomic structure but nothing more - so bear with me.

At one point the author says that bosons are only forces, not matter. But neutrons are bosons, and traditionally they've been thought of as material parts of the nucleus. So are the neutrons the manifestation of the strong nuclear force holding the protons together, or is the boson rule not universal?

Hmm... how to explain this without ten pages of statistical physics.. I'll think about it.

The claim that bosons are forces is very simple, it's not a rule. It is just that the fermions in the standard model can be considered fundamental particles of matter. And the bosons in the standard model are the exchange particles for the fundamental forces.

So the simple rule only applies to the fundamental particles then, which protons, and neutrons are not.
I do know some statistical physics, so if you want to explain that would be great.