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College EE Textbook Recommendations

R

Richard Kanarek

Jan 1, 1970
0
Greetings.

I have elderly Electronics Engineering text books, but I don't have
any new/recent ones. For both my education and curiosity, I'd like to
get some (one or more) newish EE college text books. GOOD ones -- and
by "GOOD" I mean well written. I have a newish Electronics Technology
text book that strikes me as being rather mediocre, even with its
charming pastel printing and excessive diagrams. I certainly don't
want to go out of my way to acquire mediocre EE textbooks, too.

With regard to a particular area of study, I'd be interested in books
relevant to digital logic and radio. I assume "digital logic" is self
explanatory; by "radio" I mean anything somewhat related to what would
be involved with designing a AM/FM radio receiver. e.g. mesh/node
analysis; design of discrete "transistor" (Bipolar, FET) "circuits"
(audio/RF); analysis of oscillators/filters; etc.

For clarity:
a. I am only interested in obtaining recommendations and titles/ISBN
numbers. This is NOT a RFQ! ;-)
b. I am interested in undergraduate/graduate EE (electronics) books.
Clive "Max" Maxfield (http://www.maxmon.com/), for example, has
probably written several good electronics related books (I have fond,
if dim, recollections of "Bebop to the Boolean Boogie"). His books are
not, however, college text books, so they are disqualified from this
discussion. Ditto all the other various hobbyist/technology
(non-Engineering)/miscellaneous electronics books.
c. I'm looking for pointers to best-of-breed books. I'm perfectly
capable of randomly locating unvetted textbooks via Internet searches.
d. Although I'm located in the USA, a pointer towards a particularly
good UK electronics engineering (again, NOT technology) text book
would quite welcome (pip, pip)!


Thanks in advance!


Cordially,
Richard Kanarek
 
J

Jim Thompson

Jan 1, 1970
0
Greetings.

I have elderly Electronics Engineering text books, but I don't have
any new/recent ones. For both my education and curiosity, I'd like to
get some (one or more) newish EE college text books. GOOD ones -- and
by "GOOD" I mean well written. I have a newish Electronics Technology
text book that strikes me as being rather mediocre, even with its
charming pastel printing and excessive diagrams. I certainly don't
want to go out of my way to acquire mediocre EE textbooks, too.

With regard to a particular area of study, I'd be interested in books
relevant to digital logic and radio. I assume "digital logic" is self
explanatory; by "radio" I mean anything somewhat related to what would
be involved with designing a AM/FM radio receiver. e.g. mesh/node
analysis; design of discrete "transistor" (Bipolar, FET) "circuits"
(audio/RF); analysis of oscillators/filters; etc.

For clarity:
a. I am only interested in obtaining recommendations and titles/ISBN
numbers. This is NOT a RFQ! ;-)
b. I am interested in undergraduate/graduate EE (electronics) books.
Clive "Max" Maxfield (http://www.maxmon.com/), for example, has
probably written several good electronics related books (I have fond,
if dim, recollections of "Bebop to the Boolean Boogie"). His books are
not, however, college text books, so they are disqualified from this
discussion. Ditto all the other various hobbyist/technology
(non-Engineering)/miscellaneous electronics books.
c. I'm looking for pointers to best-of-breed books. I'm perfectly
capable of randomly locating unvetted textbooks via Internet searches.
d. Although I'm located in the USA, a pointer towards a particularly
good UK electronics engineering (again, NOT technology) text book
would quite welcome (pip, pip)!


Thanks in advance!


Cordially,
Richard Kanarek

Fundamentals never change!

My 50 year-old MIT text books still serve me well.

...Jim Thompson
 
L

linnix

Jan 1, 1970
0
Fundamentals never change!
Absolutely.


My 50 year-old MIT text books still serve me well.

At the risk of dating myself. My 30 years old collections are
priceless,
although my wife keeps telling me to get rid of them for pennies in
garage sales.

Recently, a homeless man died in his van with his book collections.
He could have been an engineer like you and me. I want to be buried
with my books as well.
 
J

Joerg

Jan 1, 1970
0
Richard said:
Greetings.

I have elderly Electronics Engineering text books, but I don't have
any new/recent ones. For both my education and curiosity, I'd like to
get some (one or more) newish EE college text books. GOOD ones -- and
by "GOOD" I mean well written. I have a newish Electronics Technology
text book that strikes me as being rather mediocre, even with its
charming pastel printing and excessive diagrams. I certainly don't
want to go out of my way to acquire mediocre EE textbooks, too.

With regard to a particular area of study, I'd be interested in books
relevant to digital logic and radio. I assume "digital logic" is self
explanatory; by "radio" I mean anything somewhat related to what would
be involved with designing a AM/FM radio receiver. e.g. mesh/node
analysis; design of discrete "transistor" (Bipolar, FET) "circuits"
(audio/RF); analysis of oscillators/filters; etc.

For clarity:
a. I am only interested in obtaining recommendations and titles/ISBN
numbers. This is NOT a RFQ! ;-)
b. I am interested in undergraduate/graduate EE (electronics) books.
Clive "Max" Maxfield (http://www.maxmon.com/), for example, has
probably written several good electronics related books (I have fond,
if dim, recollections of "Bebop to the Boolean Boogie"). His books are
not, however, college text books, so they are disqualified from this
discussion. Ditto all the other various hobbyist/technology
(non-Engineering)/miscellaneous electronics books.
c. I'm looking for pointers to best-of-breed books. I'm perfectly
capable of randomly locating unvetted textbooks via Internet searches.
d. Although I'm located in the USA, a pointer towards a particularly
good UK electronics engineering (again, NOT technology) text book
would quite welcome (pip, pip)!

Even back when I was studying for my degree I didn't find college
textbooks particularly helpful to achieve a true understanding. What
really taught me radio and, to some extent, digital design was the ARRL
Handbook. Surprisingly cheap, too. Later it was The Art of Electronics.
Then Ulrich Rhode's Communications Receivers etc. Eventually I worked my
way up to high level signal processing but that was after I had my masters.

BTW, thanks for the hint about Purplus in the CAD group. Order came in.
I wish I could fire up the new DesignCAD right away but too swamped with
work right now.
 
R

Rich Grise

Jan 1, 1970
0
Greetings.

I have elderly Electronics Engineering text books, but I don't have
any new/recent ones. For both my education and curiosity, I'd like to
get some (one or more) newish EE college text books. GOOD ones -- and
by "GOOD" I mean well written. I have a newish Electronics Technology
text book that strikes me as being rather mediocre, even with its
charming pastel printing and excessive diagrams. I certainly don't
want to go out of my way to acquire mediocre EE textbooks, too.

Have you checked the school's engineering library?

Good Luck!
Rich
 
J

Jim Thompson

Jan 1, 1970
0
Even back when I was studying for my degree I didn't find college
textbooks particularly helpful to achieve a true understanding. What
really taught me radio and, to some extent, digital design was the ARRL
Handbook. Surprisingly cheap, too. Later it was The Art of Electronics.
Then Ulrich Rhode's Communications Receivers etc. Eventually I worked my
way up to high level signal processing but that was after I had my masters.

BTW, thanks for the hint about Purplus in the CAD group. Order came in.
I wish I could fire up the new DesignCAD right away but too swamped with
work right now.

"Designing" is an art. School books provide the fundamental *tools*
necessary to carry out your art.

...Jim Thompson
 
Fundamentals never change!

My 50 year-old MIT text books still serve me well.

...Jim Thompson
--
| James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens |
| Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus |
| Phoenix, Arizona Voice:(480)460-2350 | |
| E-mail Address at Website Fax:(480)460-2142 | Brass Rat |
| http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |

America: Land of the Free, Because of the Brave

Gee, the first revision of Gray and Meyer didn't have any CMOS analog
in it. Low power CMOS analog design books came out later than than.

Time marches on.
 
J

Jim Thompson

Jan 1, 1970
0
Gee, the first revision of Gray and Meyer didn't have any CMOS analog
in it. Low power CMOS analog design books came out later than than.

Time marches on.

Do you need a book to "design"?

All I care about are the device characteristics.

I've never had a course in CMOS, yet I design ASIC's in it daily at
the device level.

Likewise I'm sure I could design a toooob amplifier if I wanted ;-)

...Jim Thompson
 
Greetings.

I have elderly Electronics Engineering text books, but I don't have
any new/recent ones. For both my education and curiosity, I'd like to
get some (one or more) newish EE college text books. GOOD ones -- and
by "GOOD" I mean well written. I have a newish Electronics Technology
text book that strikes me as being rather mediocre, even with its
charming pastel printing and excessive diagrams. I certainly don't
want to go out of my way to acquire mediocre EE textbooks, too.

With regard to a particular area of study, I'd be interested in books
relevant to digital logic and radio. I assume "digital logic" is self
explanatory; by "radio" I mean anything somewhat related to what would
be involved with designing a AM/FM radio receiver. e.g. mesh/node
analysis; design of discrete "transistor" (Bipolar, FET) "circuits"
(audio/RF); analysis of oscillators/filters; etc.

For clarity:
a. I am only interested in obtaining recommendations and titles/ISBN
numbers. This is NOT a RFQ! ;-)
b. I am interested in undergraduate/graduate EE (electronics) books.
Clive "Max" Maxfield (http://www.maxmon.com/), for example, has
probably written several good electronics related books (I have fond,
if dim, recollections of "Bebop to the Boolean Boogie"). His books are
not, however, college text books, so they are disqualified from this
discussion. Ditto all the other various hobbyist/technology
(non-Engineering)/miscellaneous electronics books.
c. I'm looking for pointers to best-of-breed books. I'm perfectly
capable of randomly locating unvetted textbooks via Internet searches.
d. Although I'm located in the USA, a pointer towards a particularly
good UK electronics engineering (again, NOT technology) text book
would quite welcome (pip, pip)!

Thanks in advance!

Cordially,
Richard Kanarek

<http://www.amazon.com/Analysis-Design-Analog-Integrated-Circuits/dp/
0471321680>
http://www.artofelectronics.com/
Phillip Allen's books are well done:
http://www.aicdesign.org/
I haven't read Sedra/Smith "Microelectronics", but I hear it is a good
text.
<http://www.amazon.com/Analog-Integrated-Circuits-Signal-Processing/dp/
0471097977/ref=sr_1_2/102-8268039-0492929?
ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1175018438&sr=8-2>
if you can find a used copy. It is quite dated since it came out in
the 80s.
 
J

Joel Kolstad

Jan 1, 1970
0
I haven't read Sedra/Smith "Microelectronics", but I hear it is a good
text.
if you can find a used copy. It is quite dated since it came out in
the 80s.

The latest (5th) edition came out in 2003, but picking up an older edition is
going to leave out very little (as Jim suggests, much of EE is relatively
time-insensitive...).

I like Sedra & Smith, although it is a little "heavy" for self-education
unless you're going and being able to spot areas that can be skipped on the
first go through; it's 1392 pages after all! It's what I used in college, but
it really did serve as more of a reference than as a traditional textbook
where you'd end up reading (almost) every page by the end of the course.
 
J

john jardine

Jan 1, 1970
0
Joel Kolstad said:
The latest (5th) edition came out in 2003, but picking up an older edition is
going to leave out very little (as Jim suggests, much of EE is relatively
time-insensitive...).

I like Sedra & Smith, although it is a little "heavy" for self-education
unless you're going and being able to spot areas that can be skipped on the
first go through; it's 1392 pages after all! It's what I used in college, but
it really did serve as more of a reference than as a traditional textbook
where you'd end up reading (almost) every page by the end of the course.

Yes. I'd strongly recommend it.
Worth casually reading just for the some of its off-the-beaten-track stuff.
 
Do you need a book to "design"?

All I care about are the device characteristics.

I've never had a course in CMOS, yet I design ASIC's in it daily at
the device level.

Likewise I'm sure I could design a toooob amplifier if I wanted ;-)

...Jim Thompson
--
| James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens |
| Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus |
| Phoenix, Arizona Voice:(480)460-2350 | |
| E-mail Address at Website Fax:(480)460-2142 | Brass Rat |
| http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |

America: Land of the Free, Because of the Brave

I started in MOS linear (as in NMOS, not CMOS) before Gray and Meyer
updated their book. There were plenty of tricks in the ISSCC journals
that were useful, but I would have liked to have it all summed up in a
more "linear" fashion. I don't think education is a waste of time, but
your mileage may vary.

I suppose many of the things in the early papers were easily seen once
your started simulations, such as the right hand plane zero issue in
MOS op amps. Still, why reinvent the wheel?
 
J

Jim Thompson

Jan 1, 1970
0
On 27 Mar 2007 10:49:07 -0700, [email protected] wrote:
[snip]
Gee, the first revision of Gray and Meyer didn't have any CMOS analog
in it. Low power CMOS analog design books came out later than than.
Time marches on.

Do you need a book to "design"?

All I care about are the device characteristics.

I've never had a course in CMOS, yet I design ASIC's in it daily at
the device level.

Likewise I'm sure I could design a toooob amplifier if I wanted ;-)

...Jim Thompson

I started in MOS linear (as in NMOS, not CMOS) before Gray and Meyer
updated their book. There were plenty of tricks in the ISSCC journals
that were useful, but I would have liked to have it all summed up in a
more "linear" fashion. I don't think education is a waste of time, but
your mileage may vary.

I suppose many of the things in the early papers were easily seen once
your started simulations, such as the right hand plane zero issue in
MOS op amps. Still, why reinvent the wheel?

I find that reinventing the wheel is very educational ;-)

...Jim Thompson
 
The latest (5th) edition came out in 2003, but picking up an older edition is
going to leave out very little (as Jim suggests, much of EE is relatively
time-insensitive...).

I like Sedra & Smith, although it is a little "heavy" for self-education
unless you're going and being able to spot areas that can be skipped on the
first go through; it's 1392 pages after all! It's what I used in college, but
it really did serve as more of a reference than as a traditional textbook
where you'd end up reading (almost) every page by the end of the course.

I came across Hamilton and Howard "Basic Integrated Circuit
Engineering" at a swap meet. I don't believe it has been updated since
it doesn't show up in Amazon. It's probably worth putting on the list.
 
J

Jim Thompson

Jan 1, 1970
0
I came across Hamilton and Howard "Basic Integrated Circuit
Engineering" at a swap meet. I don't believe it has been updated since
it doesn't show up in Amazon. It's probably worth putting on the list.

Hamilton? That must be Doug Hamilton. I worked with him during the
summers of 1962 and 1963... he was a UofA professor getting his feet
wet in real world integrated circuits... just getting rolling at that
time.

Howard? I vaguely remember him as a blow-hard buddy of Jim Solomon's
;-)

...Jim Thompson
 
R

Richard Kanarek

Jan 1, 1970
0
My dear Mr. Thompson,

As I type this, I am literally -- LITERALLY -- no more than four
inches away from my copy of the book "Industrial Electricity, Part I"
(circa 1939). I mention this by way of assuring you that neither my
admiration for, nor accumulation of, "time tested" electronics books
is lacking. Still, it would seem that solid-state electronics is here
to stay, and that acquiring books whose treatment of such electronics
extends past copper oxide rectifiers might not be completely
unwarranted. <g> Furthermore, there is the sociological aspect to
consider. The repressive laws in my state ostensibly forbid
vivisection. How else am I to gain insight into the new breed of EEs
-- a wretched heard that it is my goal to eventually join, if I live
long enough and if I can find nothing more demeaning to do -- without
at least examining their fodder?

Cordially,
Richard Kanarek

P.S. I, too, have a "50 year-old MIT text book". It was meant to be a
definitive reference on electrical engineering (much as Dr. Knuth's
"The Art of Computer Programming" was meant to likewise for CS, except
that they actually finished their book ;-). Reading it thoroughly is
on my todo list (which currently has items on it dating back to the
1980s, sigh).
 
R

Richard Kanarek

Jan 1, 1970
0
Howdy Joerg,

Regarding your post:

"Even back when I was studying for my degree I didn't find college
textbooks particularly helpful to achieve a true understanding. What
really taught me radio and, to some extent, digital design was the
ARRL Handbook. Surprisingly cheap, too. Later it was The Art of
Electronics.
Then Ulrich Rhode's Communications Receivers etc. Eventually I worked
my way up to high level signal processing but that was after I had my
masters."

Thanks for the recommendations!

Admittedly, the fact that a book is/was used by some college somewhere
hardly guarantees its quality. For every Strunk's "The Elements of
Style" (just to pick a quality (former) college text book at random)
there are doubtlessly innumerable lousy text books. Still, even in the
EE field, there must be some quality, information packed books out
there. (This explains why I asked for recommendations, rather than
just buying used college books randomly.


"BTW, thanks for the hint about Purplus in the CAD group. Order came
in. I wish I could fire up the new DesignCAD right away but too
swamped with work right now."

Glad to have been of assistance with your 2D cad search. (Hint: one of
DesignCAD's advantages is its use of hot keys. Once you get the hang
of it, may drafting chores can be done without typing a
command/accessing a pull down menu. You might want to get the hang of
it. ;-)

Showing no greater wisdom than you did, I decided to follow my own
advice, too (always a mistake). I purchased a copy of ViaCAD 2D/3D
(www.keenzo.com) that I had mentioned on the other newsgroup. Again
like you, I haven't had the time to actually try the thing, but wow!
Of the $84 bucks I paid, I think a good quarter of it went into the
packaging (my box -- incredibly, they sell the exact same program in
two different boxes! -- consists of a full color, embossed cardboard
box with a full color cardboard multi-page pamphlet making up its
front). The (still untried) program actually seems to consist of two
equal or more expensive CAD programs (Concepts 2D & 3D,
www.csi-concepts.com) combined into one. Despite its main feature
being its sophisticated 3D editing and unmatched (in its price class)
file import/export facilities, the origami box advertises the software
as being useful for, among other things, "School Projects" and
"Flowcharts"!?!

Questions:
a) Am I really the last living sane person left?
b) Heaven knows, I'm no (financial or otherwise) genius, but is
selling more for less really the way to become wealthy?


Cordially,
Richard Kanarek
 
R

Richard Kanarek

Jan 1, 1970
0
Greetings,

PMBI, but regarding your recent post:
At the risk of dating myself. My 30 years old collections are
priceless, although my wife keeps telling me to get rid of them for pennies
in garage sales.

I agree with her up to a point. I'm appalled at how expensive old
engineering books can sometimes be. When I was young, during the brief
periods when the dinosaurs weren't on the prowl, I would often
scrounge around books stores, picking up old electronics books
(somewhat) cheap. To the extent that any of the current crop of young'
ins wants to, why not afford them the same opportunity? (Not that it
did me much good, sigh. ;-)
Recently, a homeless man died in his van with his book collections.
He could have been an engineer like you and me. I want to be buried
with my books as well.
a) Great. I don't even have a van.
b) Buried with your books? Appalling! Set them free! They are probably
the only legacy of their talented authors. What an appalling act of
disrespect (to the authors), as well as waste, it is to burry/discard
them!
 
R

Richard Kanarek

Jan 1, 1970
0
Greetings,

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

First, on the chance that it is of assistance to anyone, here are your
links (without line breaks):

www.amazon.com/Analysis-Design-Analog-Integrated-Circuits/dp/0471321680
www.artofelectronics.com
www.aicdesign.org
www.amazon.com/Analog-Integrated-Circuits-Signal-Processing/dp/0471097977/ref=sr_1_2/102-8268039-0492929?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1175018438&sr=8-2

Second, thanks again for the links (and thanks, too, to the other
posters on this thread). I confess that I would normally have shunned
IC related texts such as those you mentioned. My inclinations run
towards physics (as it pertains to electricity/etc.) and circuit
design using discrete parts. (I was strongly affected by a 1940s Radio
Electronics book when I was impressionable; this may have distorted my
viewpoint.) Thank's for broadening my horizons. <g>


Cordially,
Richard Kanarek
 
R

Richard Kanarek

Jan 1, 1970
0
Greetings,

Do you suppose that I would value the opinion of some anonymous
librarian over those of the venerated contributors of this newsgroup?
Horrors!
 
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