Magnetic fields from the ocean floor to outer space

Magnetic fields are ubiquitous in the universe. They control the behavior of charged particles that fill most of space and impose structure on small and large scales. Earth and other planets are embedded in bubbles in space whose form and dynamics have been revealed by spacecraft measurements.  Starting with some historical background, this lecture will turn to the generation of planetary magnetic fields, a subject still not fully understood.   A tour through the solar system will describe unique aspects of the magnetic properties and the magnetic environments of the Sun, comets, the moons of Jupiter, and Saturn.