Practical Electronics for Inventors

I teach an introductory class in electronics at a small university. The class is intended for scientists, not electrical engineers; so the emphasis is on basic knowledge, practical troubleshooting skills, and design. I've used the Second Edition of this book a number of times with some satisfaction simply because the book covered most of what I needed. It was a great reference book for just about anything someone would want to know about electronics. However, there were some notable gaps in the Second Edition that I typically teach in an electronics class; specifically, I teach a section on transducers and microcontrollers. With the Third Edition, there are new sections on sensors (transducers) and microcontrollers, and now this book has everything in it that I could possibly want to teach. I've been using the Arduino for class the last couple of years because most scientists would use a microcontroller to design a piece of equipment instead of discrete gates and logic chips. So with these new additions, I cannot imagine any other book that would be needed for a class. So from this point forward, I will be using this book for EVERY electronics class that I teach. The detail in the book is in-depth enough for folks who want to know how everything works, BUT the person who wants to skip past the theory can certainly do that and STILL learn a lot from this book. As I teach, I tend to skip around within the book to cover what is important to me. The chapters are designed to be somewhat modular; for instance, I can teach the basics of analog electronics and transistors and then move to microcontrollers without necessarily having to spend a lot of time time on discrete logic chips. There are lots of illustrations and graphs; so those who need to see something to understand it will be pleased. There is also a lot of detail on practical things like motors that generally are NOT in an electronics book. The sections on household electricity are excellent and very useful, since some equipment/inventions would require mains power. So knowing how to be safe around it and how to use it properly is important. I haven't read every single page yet and marked it up. In a book this size, I am sure there will be some typographical errors along the way and maybe even a mistake or two in explaining something. But I would still say this book is the BEST practical book on electronics out there. Kudos to Mr Scherz and Dr. Monk. You've taken an excellent book and modernized it in a great way for the current day. In short, for a 1000 page book, anyone who buys this is getting a bargain. It's the BEST.

This book is packed with useful theory and practical information. It would be great for anyone who wants to learn electronics, or who already knows the subject and needs a helpful reference. It covers theory at every level from basic hydraulic analogies (voltage = pressure, current = flow) to Thevenin's Theorem and phasor diagrams. Moving beyond theory, the book examines the properties of typical commercially available components including optoelectronics and sensors, and gives dozens of practical examples of circuit design. A chapter on "Hands-On Electronics" has practical advice ranging from soldering to the use of test instruments and how to set up an electronics lab. The last third of the book explores operational amplifiers (op-amps), filters, voltage regulators, digital electronics (and commonly used integrated circuits), microcontrollers (with a focus on the Arduino), motors, audio, and finally modular electronics. These are followed by appendices with reference information on power distribution and home wiring, error analysis, and useful facts and formulas. The only part of this 2013 edition that seems at all dated is the Modular Electronics chapter, which omits some currently popular hardware such as the Raspberry Pi. However, the chapter is still useful for its examples, and current information can easily be found on line. I strongly recommend this book as a text for anyone who wants to learn electronics, or anyone who already knows the subject and would like a handy reference.

I work in RF electronics and packet radio transmission and this book is now used to supplement a few gray areas and enhance my knowledge...What I love about this book and what sets it different from other books is the decision by the author to not only involve minute details about how capacitors and inductors work, but also illustrate in 3d like substance what these electrons actually do under the influence of voltage potentials, timings and other things...The effort put into this book by the authors is just monumental...These are not 2d drawings with meaningless text attached, but actually problems that are meticulously worked out to minute detail and presented in a juicy 3d representation...I never knew I could learn so much details about coils, magnetism, flux lines, stray capacitance and resistance (parasitics), inductance, flux mechanisms, permeability of core material, air coils, toroids with various AL indexes of every fashion are all discussed with worked out problems in the book...This author is not only one of the non-lazy, I'm so smart so go figure it yourself author that copies irrelevant integration formulas from other books, but by simplifying complicated terminology, also manages to take you on a trip of the mind that goes beyond understanding the fundamentals and continuously engages and enhances your knowledge spectrum by continuously also stimulating your interest and sometimes refreshing your memory on some of the gray areas with ease and substance...Can this book ever be outdone? I'm quarter of the way through it and I am insanely grateful to this author! Things have become so much more clear! Next book he puts out...I'm getting it without even looking at the reviews!

I would also recommend getting "The art of Electronics" and the student manual along with it. There are some areas where this book does not explain enough but "The art of Electronics" is thorough. But in general this book provides a more gentler introduction to most topics and then the "The art of electronics" can take over. Besides it is more upto date then the 1989 edition of "the art of electronics" book. Though the fundamentals have not changed, the part numbers have. Also the Kindle version of book needs to be seriously updated. The charts , equations and tables are not usable at all (I'm reading it on a PC and an IPad3). Almost reduces the value of this book. Amazon needs to do something immediately to make books like these useable on the Kindle. Maybe a PDF based layout (restricted to larger devices) would be a solution. I would barely recommend the current Kindle book. The publishers should release a PDF version of all the charts in the book as a complement to the kindle book or re-release it as a Print Replica Kindle Edition book.

This review is based on my completing the first 251 pages (Chapter 2: Theory). I've browsed the rest of the book and expect the following review will hold true as I progress through it the remainder. TL;DR summary: A solid tutorial and reference for a serious learner that occupies a needed niche between the "for dummies" and college text categories. Thiry years ago, I took two years of electircal engineering in collage before switching to computer science. While I'm a "software guy," I still get my hands dirty interfacing with hardware and simple design. I purchased this book in the hopes that I could fortify my knowledge. Thus far this book has been a perfect mix of theory and practice for my reeducation. The authors give enough physics to understand the principles at work without getting lost in details. Being a book with the word "practical" in the title, it touches on real-world variations from theory that one will likely encounter. There are ample illustrations of principles and problems to work through with answers to let one check their understanding. I recommend one take the time to work through the problems. (If one has basic electronic tesst equipment, I also recommend building some of these simple circuits and fiddling with them to see them in action.) The book doesn't shy away from the mathematics, but the authors don't assume that the reader is a mathematician. With a little persaverance one could start from scratch and get up to speed on basic electornics.

I'm a middle of the road electronics hobbyist. Meaning, I get the basics, and need something more. This book fits the bill. There is theory that transitions to practical illustrations. This has helped me better understand circuitry. It will take me years to completely digest everything presented in this book. The amount of information in this book is amazing. It covers theory, analog basics, basic circuit components, then into semiconductors, and a great portion on Op-Amps. There is also a stout section on digital electronics, and even a good chunk on micro controllers (ie Aduino). Also motors, sensor and opto-electronics. In other words, this book has most of what you need to dive very deeply into advanced hobby electronics. I prefer this book to most internet searches, because I don't have to sift through the wanna-be pseudo-experts to get to the good stuff. The amount of information in this book makes it an exceptional value, and saves me time. As an addendum, I have found is that if Simon Monk is an author, the book will be good.

First impression was that it reminds me of a text book from engineering school. I wasn't expecting to encounter calculus, Dif EQ, or matrix algebra when I bought it but since I have that background it gave me a nice shortcut for a quick review. I'm not sure how much of a problem that might be for someone without the math background. Could be it doesn't matter much. I'm not planning on crunching numbers the old fashioned way and will be using a free online version of Spice as I go through the book and likely others with less math could do that just as well. This is a very large book and an incredible amount of information. It had me quickly rechecking how much I had spent on Amazon to buy it. I am surprised at the "bang for the buck" bargain all this information can be bought for. The book now has a prominent spot on my bookcase in my home workshop. I expect it to be dog eared and worn within a few years since I'll likely refer to it often.

This book is chock full of everything a person could hope for. Possibly more than you'll ever need. Couple this with the Gibilisco book "Teach Yourself Electricity and Electronics"and his book on reading schematics and that's probably all you'll ever need. It's a shame that Amazon doesn't provide a way to rate sellers. I buy a lot of books online, actual printed books made of paper. Many book sellers these days think it's enough to put a book in a thin plastic sleeves, or a paper USPS Priority envelope. IT IS *NOT*. I bought my copy on amazon because some nimrod elsewhere sent the first copy in a plastic sleeve. A book that was listed in very good condition was now in fair condition. Thanks dillweed. The seller of the copy purchased here did the one and only thing *EVERY* book seller should - they sent it in a heavy vardboard box. Close to the size of the book with material around it to keep it from banging around inside its box. Thank you!!! Book sellers take note of the facts above. Most people these days seem to have become complacent and let people get away with things, whether it is politicians, corporate executives or retailers and sellers of goods. Not me. If you drop the ball, I will be raising hell with the retailer, customer support, representatives, congress persons and senators. Rant over, off of soapbox. If you're interested in electricity and electronics, buy this book. The key/legend in the front of the book explaining how component symbols on schematics are drawn might be worth the book alone.