The reason that matter has magnetic properties is that the fundamental particles are magnetic. The electron, the proton, and the neutron carry dipole magnetic fields with them wherever they go, so it is really no surprise that matter behaves magnetically. What is surprising is that some special forms of matter (iron and other ferromagnetic materials) make such strong magnets. This amazing behavior puzzled natural philosophers for centuries and even the beginning of an explanation had to wait for the discovery of quantum mechanics in this century. With the exception of ferromagnetic materials, however, the magnetic behavior of matter is fairly weak and not so hard to understand.