Maker Pro
Maker Pro

Book Reviews

(*steve*)

¡sǝpodᴉʇuɐ ǝɥʇ ɹɐǝɥd
Moderator
Jan 21, 2010
25,510
Joined
Jan 21, 2010
Messages
25,510
OK, this is a trial. If you feel there is a really good (or really bad) book that you've read, write a review here.

I will probably incorporate particularly good reviews into this post.

Please also feel free to discuss books in this thread.

I'll start it off.

The Art of Electronics (Horowitz & Hill)

This is my favourite text. It is very readable and requires very limited understanding of higher mathematics.

It is not for the beginner, I'd recommend that you have a pretty good working knowledge of what basic components do before reading this.

The first chapter covers a number of mathematical concepts that are very useful, however they are not required (other than in their most basic form) to understand the rest of the material presented in the book.
 

CiaranM

May 19, 2012
74
Joined
May 19, 2012
Messages
74
hello! I have the Student Manual version of that book. Its a good book, very informative, and has hand-drawn pictures in it which look good. It also has some humour, e.g. I read a section about op amps, and the authors were talking about dogs being hidden from op amp outputs.

I have several books from Bernard Babani Publishing. You got any? They're inexpensive, and contain great info. Here are a few:
- Practical Electronics Calculations and Formulae: A very useful book which tells you all sorts of equations, stuff about components, S.I. units, how to calculate things, etc.
- Practical Oscillator Circuits: This books shows you a variety of oscillator circuits using ICs such as the 555, 556, TL072 etc. There are also LC circuits. The circuits are explained and they work great. The book is by Andy Flind; anyone know anything about him?
- Practical Electronic Filters: This book explains how filtering works and how to devise filtering circuits. Thanks to this book, I understand that a (passive?) filter is a voltage divider,and I was able to see how placing different components in different parts of a circuit could provide a different response.

There are several books by a guy named R.M. Marston. One of his books I have is Timer/Generator Circuits Manual. There are plenty of interesting circuits to try out. Explanations are provided.

Another book I have is Electronics Calculations Data Handbook. This book features all sorts of tables with values for resistor power ratings, voltage dividers, etc. There are also explanations for circuits and various topics.
 

hca

Aug 28, 2012
15
Joined
Aug 28, 2012
Messages
15
I recommend using:
Electrical Engineering: Principles and Applications by Allan R. Hambley (2011)
You can see it here:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/34151864/Electrical-Engineering-Principles-and-Applications

It covers the following topics including many clear worked examples:
Chapters 1-6: Basic Circuit Analysis
ch.1 Introduction
ch. 2 Resistive Circuits
ch. 3 Inductance and Capacitance
ch. 4 Transients
ch. 5 Steady State Sinusoidal Analysis
ch. 6 Frequency Response, Bode Plots and Resonance
Chapters 7-9 Digital Systems
ch. 7 Logic Circuits
ch. 8 Microcomputers
ch. 9 Computer Based Instrumentation Systems
Chapters 10-14 Electronic Devices and Circuits
ch.10 Diodes
ch.11 Amplifiers
ch.12 Field Effect Transistors
ch. 13 Bipolar Junction Transistors
ch.14 Operational Amplifiers
Chapters 15 -17Electromechanics
ch.15 Magnetic Circuits and Transformers
ch. 16 DC Machines
ch.17 AC Machines

The book also has a very good companion website with video solutions.
PDF files of solutions to in chapter questions are available on the companion website (you need to purchase the book to have access to the companion website)

Prerequisites :
The book recommends an understanding of basic physics and single variable calculus.

A very good first text book.
 

Rusty

Nov 30, 2012
16
Joined
Nov 30, 2012
Messages
16
Electric Circuits
by Nilsson, Riedel:

Very nice book for the beginners. Starting out with ohms law, ending with basic op amp circuits, frequency respons and natural/step respons.

Audio Power Amplifiers
by Bob Cordell:

All about power amplifiers. Very easy to read book with lots of practical information about different output stages examples and explanaitions, but not so much theory.

Audio Power Amplifier
by Douglas Self

A little bit more theoretical than Cordell, but still its expected that you know some circuit theory if you want to fully understand it. I prefer this book a bit more than the Cordell. Also easy to read, lots of practical information.

Small Signal Audio Design
by Douglas Self

This is a really really nice book for every audio insterested people. Easy to read and lots of information about different transistor and op amp circuits. All about noise, gain, stability and lots of circuit examples for different use. I strongly recommend this book. Douglas Self knows his stuff.

Design with Operational Amplifiers and Analog Integrated Circuits
by Sergio Franco

This is a good book for instrumentation circuits. All about noise, impedances, stability and frequency response and many different op amp circuits. A good mix of theory and practical information. Not for starters, but if you know basic electronics i strongly recommend this book!

Microelectronic Circuits
by Sedra/Smith

One of my favorite books about basic op amp, diode and transistor circuits. You need to know some basic electronics and frequency respons in advance, but otherwise this book begin with easy circuits and end with a bit more complex designs. Very easy to read, lots of examples, lots of tasks to solve and all in all a really good book.

Digital Design, Applications and VHDL
by Dueck

An easy to read book if you want to learn all about digital circuits. Begins with a beginner level and gets more advanced later in the book. A nice introduction to the digital world.


Hope this was helpfull!
 
Last edited:

egd_electronic_advisor

Dec 15, 2012
1
Joined
Dec 15, 2012
Messages
1
Good Electronics Books ...

Yes ... there are several of them ...

The BOOK presented here (Horowitz) is an ancient and almost dogmatic book .... Is the BEST one as a reference ...

Even there is several good one ... the most complete (and practical) textbook is


1. Electronic Devices and Circuits (Bogart, Beasley, Rico), almost engineering level
2. Electronic Devices (Conventional Current Version; Floyd) technology and practical level


There is s lot more in the market .... just forget about MAURO (Engineering level) ... one of the worst

EGD


OK, this is a trial. If you feel there is a really good (or really bad) book that you've read, write a review here.

I will probably incorporate particularly good reviews into this post.

Please also feel free to discuss books in this thread.

I'll start it off.

The Art of Electronics (Horowitz & Hill)

This is my favourite text. It is very readable and requires very limited understanding of higher mathematics.

It is not for the beginner, I'd recommend that you have a pretty good working knowledge of what basic components do before reading this.

The first chapter covers a number of mathematical concepts that are very useful, however they are not required (other than in their most basic form) to understand the rest of the material presented in the book.
 

sjgallagher2

Jan 27, 2013
17
Joined
Jan 27, 2013
Messages
17

izdane

Mar 1, 2013
5
Joined
Mar 1, 2013
Messages
5
Make: electronics
This is a great book for beginners because it assumes you know nothing
 

Proschuno

Aug 1, 2011
94
Joined
Aug 1, 2011
Messages
94
Electronics for Inventors, Paul Scherzy

Not the best for extreme newbies, but will do if you have a decent grasp of algebra, but If you know the higher mathematics he also goes really deep into theory which uses that, so there's a little something for everyone.

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/pra...=pla&ean=9780071452816&isbn=9780071452816&r=1

Ch. 1 Introduction
2. Theory

3. Electrical components

4. Semiconductors

5. Optoelectronics

6. Integrated Circuits

7. Op amps

8. Filters

9. Oscillators & timers

10. Power supplies

11. Audio electronics

12. Digital

13. Motors

14. Hands on electronics
 

NuLED

Jan 7, 2012
294
Joined
Jan 7, 2012
Messages
294
There is a new 3rd edition of the Scherzy text. I will get that later once I am done with the basics, but FYI, in case anyone is about to buy the 2nd edition.
 

Rob_K

Sep 20, 2013
59
Joined
Sep 20, 2013
Messages
59

duke37

Jan 9, 2011
5,364
Joined
Jan 9, 2011
Messages
5,364
The Technique of Radio Design by E.E.Zeplar 1943

A classical book for those who wish to know how things were before semiconductors.
 

duke37

Jan 9, 2011
5,364
Joined
Jan 9, 2011
Messages
5,364
Electronic Filter Design by Arthur B. Williams 1981
I think there is a later edition.

Designs of low pass, band pass and high pass filters, passive and active.
Various filter types, Butterworth, Chebyshev, Bessel, Linear Phase,Transitional Gaussian usually up to seven pole.
 

ScienceBorn

Sep 26, 2013
55
Joined
Sep 26, 2013
Messages
55
I have to recommend you guys to read "electronics part and its operation", though i authorised the book , it is very good and fascinating for newbies!
 

mahone

Dec 21, 2013
25
Joined
Dec 21, 2013
Messages
25
book recommendations

I am always looking for something new to read, so I thought why not start a thread of book recommendations. It may even serve to help somebody out. to start off, the best books I have read are:

electrical circuit theory and technology by john bird.

practical electronics for inventors by paul scherz.

electrical engineering know it all by clive maxfield.
 

Supercap2F

Mar 22, 2014
550
Joined
Mar 22, 2014
Messages
550
CMOS Cookbook by Don Lancaster

I really like how Don Lancaster wrote this book! He put very little math in it. It does need some basic understanding of electronics. In the middle of it he put datasheets for CMOS ICs. I have talked with him via email and he seemed nice. In the back it has a TTL to CMOS conversion chart!

OP-AMP Circuits and Principles by Howard M Berlin

The book is from the 90s so it’s kind of dated but is a very good reference book. I have learned a lot on op-amps from reading it. In the back it has datasheets for some op-amps and it also has about 14 experiments. It does need some higher math skills.

Dan
 

Harald Kapp

Moderator
Moderator
Nov 17, 2011
13,700
Joined
Nov 17, 2011
Messages
13,700
I recently laid my hands on

"The circuit designer's companion"

(Peter Wilson. Newnes, ISBN: 978-0-08-097138-4).
I find this a very comprehensive work for doing actual designs.
It requires that the reader already has a good working knowledge of electronics theory. It supports the conversion from theory to practice.
 

dust collector emitter

Feb 13, 2015
2
Joined
Feb 13, 2015
Messages
2
My first book was Forrest Mims' Getting Started in Electronics
Less on theory, more on general topics. A good introduction. Also as far as introduction goes, Charles Platt's Make : Electronics

Further from there, I read Basic Electricity by the REA,
http://www.amazon.com/Handbook-Basi...=1359254739&sr=1-5&keywords=basic+electricity

and Code by Charles Petzold for more on computer science.

I highly recommend Art of Electronics as well!
Getting started in electronics was my first book too. I bought an $80 kit from radioshack about ten years ago that came with the book. It was a solderless breadboard with an ohmeter, phototransistor, and other devices with springs for connections that would hold the wires.
 
Top