Louis Néel: Retrospective (invited)

Louis Néel (1904-2000) was probably the most influential figure in applied magnetism in the 20th century. He pioneered or developed concepts such as antiferromagnetism, ferrimagnetism, superparamagnetism, magnetic viscosity, surface and induced anisotropy, domain walls, orange-peel coupling, and exchange anisotropy, many of which are of great importance in modern thin-film devices. A brief summary is given of his career and scientific contributions.