The 2007 Nobel Prize in Physics, awarded jointly to Albert Fert and Peter Grunberg for their work on nanoscale magnetic materials, reflects the fundamental and societal impact of this topic. This talk will be somewhat tutorial in nature, providing a background on fundamental topics pertinent to magnetic materials with an emphasis on nanostructures. Examples will be given of exchange-coupling in epitaxial multilayers; and vortices and exchange coupling in nanoscale dots. *“The nation that controls magnetism will control the universe.” Dick Tracy 1935. .