chapter 1. introduction chapter 2. the origin of atomic moments 2.1. spin and orbital states of electrons. 2.2. the vector model of atoms chapter 3. paramagnetism of free ions 3.1. the briliouin function 3.2. the curie law references chapter 4. the magnetically ordered state 4.1. the heisenberg exchange interaction and the weiss field 4.2. ferromagnetism 4.3. antiferromagnetism 4.4. ferrimagnetism references chapter 5. crystal fields 5.1. introduction 5.2. quantum-mechanical treatment 5.3. experimental determination of crystal-field parameters 5.4. the point-charge approximation and its limitations .5.5. crystal-field-induced anisotropy 5.6. a simplified view of 4f-electron anisotropy references chapter 6. diamagnetism reference chapter 7. itinerant-electron magnetism 7.1. introduction 7,2. susceptibility enhancement 7.3. strong and weak ferromagnetism 7.4. intersublattice coupling in alloys of rare earths and 3d metals references chapter 8. some basic concepts and units references chapter 9. measurement techniques 9.1. the susceptibility balance 9.2. the faraday method 9.3. the vibrating-sample magnetometer 9.4. the squid magnetometer references chapter 10. caloric effects in magnetic materials 10.1. the specific-heat anomaly 10.2. the magnetocaloric effect references chapter 11. magnetic anisotropy references chapter 12. permanent magnets 12.1. introduction 12.2. suitability criteria 12.3. domains and domain walls 12.4. coercivity mechanisms 12.5. magnetic anisotropy and exchange coupling in permanent-magnet materials based on rare-earth compounds 12.6. manufacturing technologies of rare-earth-basea magnets 12.7. hard ferrites 12.8. alnico magnets references chapter 13. high-density recording materials 13.1. introduction 13.2. magneto-optical recording materials 13.3. materials for high-density magnetic recording references chapter 14. soft-magnetic materials 14.1. introduction 14.2. survey of materials 14.3. the random-anisotropy model 14.4. dependence of soft-magnetic properties on grain size 14.5. head materials and their applications 14.5.1 high-density magnetic-induction heads 14.5.2 magnetoresistive heads references chapter 15. invar alloys references chapter 16. magnetostrictive materials references author index subject index