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Abstract

This review provides a brief account of the life of Eugene Parker (1927–2022) and discusses his contributions to plasma astrophysics. Growing up in Michigan, he went to graduate school at Caltech and then worked at the University of Utah before shifting to the University of Chicago, where he spent the rest of his illustrious career. Parker’s most important scientific works are discussed in the context of the historical development of plasma astrophysics. In the study of the Sun, he made enormous contributions both to the MHD of the solar convection zone (including the formulation of turbulent dynamo theory) and to the understanding of the outer solar atmosphere (including the theory of coronal heating and the prediction of the solar wind). Parker’s non-solar contributions include the Parker instability in the interstellar gas and the Parker limit of magnetic monopoles. We also try to convey an idea of Parker’s highly individualistic personality and his very unique way of doing science.