Book: "Practical Electronics for Inventors"
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Posted by Kris Krieger on August 7, 2008, 1:58 am
Please log in for more thread options It had been requested that I post a review when teh book I'd orderd, "Practical Electronics for Inventors" ( http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0071452818 ) and I had a chance to work with it. THe book came this afternoon, so I havent' had a lto fo tiem with it yet, but so far, I'm very impressed. It's ahuge text, as in, notonly physiclaly large, but chock-full of info and explanations. It has a lto fo the "esoteric" math, but also explains concepts in ways that don't *require* the esoterica. I like that approach, becasue it allows you to go back to it once you get the more basic info, but also, what I've seen so far has actually helped me understand the more basic concepts. It seems to almost be more like three books in one binding, "chapter one", covering the theory, is itself as long as a textbook. I also ordered "The All New Electronics Self-Teaching Guide (Wiley Self Teaching Guides)" http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0470289619 but haven't really looked at it yet. I'll report more (from a learner's/self-teaching viewpoint) as I get into it more deeply, but so far, it seems as though it's goign to help me a lot. Hopefully, such reviews might be of some use to others... - Kris | |||||||||||||
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Posted by thsuper1 on August 7, 2008, 10:20 am
Please log in for more thread options > It seems to almost be more like three books in one binding, "chapter one",
> covering the theory, is itself as long as a textbook. > > I also ordered "The All New Electronics Self-Teaching Guide (Wiley Self > Teaching Guides)"http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0470289619 > but haven't really looked at it yet. > > I'll report more (from a learner's/self-teaching viewpoint) as I get into > it more deeply, but so far, it seems as though it's goign to help me a lot. > > Hopefully, such reviews might be of some use to others... > > - Kris I also ordered that book(Practical electronics for inventors), having lost most of the electronics school I had taken ten years ago to memories of kids and other such stuff. I have read it cover to cover, and again, and referenced it, and now the book biding is split, and I'm considering laminating it and putting it in a binder. It's that good. I have reactivated ALL of my lost electrical knowledge, and given myself some further understanding yet. I give it FIVE STARS, and would recommend it to anyone trying to learn, or re-learn as it were, electronics. Hope you guys all enjoy your experiments! | |||||||||||||
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Posted by JosephKK on August 10, 2008, 3:40 pm
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wrote: >It had been requested that I post a review when teh book I'd orderd,
>"Practical Electronics for Inventors" >( http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0071452818 ) >and I had a chance to work with it. THe book came this afternoon, so I >havent' had a lto fo tiem with it yet, but so far, I'm very impressed. >It's ahuge text, as in, notonly physiclaly large, but chock-full of info >and explanations. It has a lto fo the "esoteric" math, but also explains >concepts in ways that don't *require* the esoterica. I like that approach, >becasue it allows you to go back to it once you get the more basic info, >but also, what I've seen so far has actually helped me understand the more >basic concepts. > >It seems to almost be more like three books in one binding, "chapter one", >covering the theory, is itself as long as a textbook. > >I also ordered "The All New Electronics Self-Teaching Guide (Wiley Self >Teaching Guides)" >http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0470289619 >but haven't really looked at it yet. > > > >I'll report more (from a learner's/self-teaching viewpoint) as I get into >it more deeply, but so far, it seems as though it's goign to help me a lot. > > >Hopefully, such reviews might be of some use to others... > >- Kris You sound pretty excited and pleased. I may want a copy as an example of writing style worth using. | |||||||||||||
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Posted by Kris Krieger on August 11, 2008, 2:33 pm
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> wrote:
> >>It had been requested that I post a review when teh book I'd orderd,
>>"Practical Electronics for Inventors" >>( http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0071452818 ) >>and I had a chance to work with it. THe book came this afternoon, so >>I havent' had a lto fo tiem with it yet, but so far, I'm very >>impressed. It's ahuge text, as in, notonly physiclaly large, but >>chock-full of info and explanations. It has a lto fo the "esoteric" >>math, but also explains concepts in ways that don't *require* the >>esoterica. I like that approach, becasue it allows you to go back to >>it once you get the more basic info, but also, what I've seen so far >>has actually helped me understand the more basic concepts. >> >>It seems to almost be more like three books in one binding, "chapter >>one", covering the theory, is itself as long as a textbook. >> >>I also ordered "The All New Electronics Self-Teaching Guide (Wiley >>Self Teaching Guides)" >>http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0470289619 >>but haven't really looked at it yet. >> >> >> >>I'll report more (from a learner's/self-teaching viewpoint) as I get >>into it more deeply, but so far, it seems as though it's goign to help >>me a lot. >> >> >>Hopefully, such reviews might be of some use to others... >> >>- Kris >
> You sound pretty excited and pleased. I may want a copy as an example > of writing style worth using. > Re: writing style, the book does use a good, clear style. It doesn't avoid jargon (i.e., words/terms that have a specific meaning in one field, but can, and often do, have an entirely different meaning in a number of other fields, and still another meaning in common useage), but rather, explains it - which is excellent, because, when one is learning, it's often the jargon that's mystifying, more than the concepts. One thing that is true across all fields of study is that, by the time one becomes expert enough to write a book on a topic, one has absorbed teh jargon to a degree that makes it difficult to identify with (and write explanations geared towards) people who have no comprehension whatsoever of what the jargon means. So, an expert (again, in any field) will often explain one term (jargon) using other terms (jargon) that, although crystal-clear to the writer/speaker, are typically opaque and mystifying to the non-expert. THis book does IMO use a decent job of explaining jargon. Also, the level and stype of writing is scientific - clear, concise, avoiding convoluted grammar (the last being my personal weakness - I unconsciously do tend to use a lot of parentheticals, conditional statements, and so on, that worked well in presenting intellignce analysis and things related to political studies, but are definitely not a scientific writing style). Also, along with a clear, grammatically-correct, and well-paced writing style, the book has a lot of good illusterations taht are not limited to circuit examples, and go far to help clarify various concepts. I personally think it's a style that appleas to both professionals who might use it as a reference, and beginners. The one area where I found weakness so far is in how the author Kirchhoff's Rules - it left me totally stumped. I went over it many times, and could not make any sense whatsoever of the calculations, so I decided to skip over that part and go on to the next part (capacitance) - and look for other sources for explanations/examples of Kirchhoff's Rules (which seem to relate directly to a battery-charging IC circuit I'm trying to understand, so as to be able to adjust it for input of differnt Volts and Amps). Overall, tho', the explanations and illustrtions do a good job- but I wouldn't call it a "beginner's book", the reason being that the author does include a good amount of theory that a totaly beginner wouldn't know how to filter out. It also tends (so far, at least) to interleave AC and DC concepts, which also might confuse a total beginner. I'm personally interested in DC, so I'm skipping the AC parts (or else I'll get them confused), but it is pretty easy to identify what ia AC or DC, and read the necessary parts. I've forgotten waht teh amazon.com price is, because I used a gift certificate to buy it, but I recall that the paperback eidtion seemed to me to be very reasonable in price (and I am pretty much a cheapskate), and after receiving the book and giving it a once-over, the price si *great* given both the wealth of information, and the high quality of the paper and printing (meaning, crisp and highly legible printing, and paper that looks like it will last for years). Again, I've only gotten to Capacitance (IOW maybe 1/20th or so of the book!), so I'll try to remember to comment more as I start studying later chapters. HTH! - Kris | |||||||||||||
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Posted by JosephKK on August 14, 2008, 7:59 am
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wrote: >
>> wrote:
>> >>>It had been requested that I post a review when teh book I'd orderd,
>>>"Practical Electronics for Inventors" >>>( http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0071452818 ) >>>and I had a chance to work with it. THe book came this afternoon, so >>>I havent' had a lto fo tiem with it yet, but so far, I'm very >>>impressed. It's ahuge text, as in, notonly physiclaly large, but >>>chock-full of info and explanations. It has a lto fo the "esoteric" >>>math, but also explains concepts in ways that don't *require* the >>>esoterica. I like that approach, becasue it allows you to go back to >>>it once you get the more basic info, but also, what I've seen so far >>>has actually helped me understand the more basic concepts. >>> >>>It seems to almost be more like three books in one binding, "chapter >>>one", covering the theory, is itself as long as a textbook. >>> >>>I also ordered "The All New Electronics Self-Teaching Guide (Wiley >>>Self Teaching Guides)" >>>http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0470289619 >>>but haven't really looked at it yet. >>> >>> >>> >>>I'll report more (from a learner's/self-teaching viewpoint) as I get >>>into it more deeply, but so far, it seems as though it's goign to help >>>me a lot. >>> >>> >>>Hopefully, such reviews might be of some use to others... >>> >>>- Kris >>
>> You sound pretty excited and pleased. I may want a copy as an example >> of writing style worth using. >> >
>Re: writing style, the book does use a good, clear style. It doesn't >avoid jargon (i.e., words/terms that have a specific meaning in one >field, but can, and often do, have an entirely different meaning in a >number of other fields, and still another meaning in common useage), but >rather, explains it - which is excellent, because, when one is learning, >it's often the jargon that's mystifying, more than the concepts. One >thing that is true across all fields of study is that, by the time one >becomes expert enough to write a book on a topic, one has absorbed teh >jargon to a degree that makes it difficult to identify with (and write >explanations geared towards) people who have no comprehension whatsoever >of what the jargon means. So, an expert (again, in any field) will >often explain one term (jargon) using other terms (jargon) that, although >crystal-clear to the writer/speaker, are typically opaque and mystifying >to the non-expert. > >THis book does IMO use a decent job of explaining jargon. Also, the >level and stype of writing is scientific - clear, concise, avoiding >convoluted grammar (the last being my personal weakness - I unconsciously >do tend to use a lot of parentheticals, conditional statements, and so >on, that worked well in presenting intellignce analysis and things >related to political studies, but are definitely not a scientific writing >style). > >Also, along with a clear, grammatically-correct, and well-paced writing >style, the book has a lot of good illusterations taht are not limited to >circuit examples, and go far to help clarify various concepts. I >personally think it's a style that appleas to both professionals who >might use it as a reference, and beginners. > > > >The one area where I found weakness so far is in how the author >Kirchhoff's Rules - it left me totally stumped. I went over it many >times, and could not make any sense whatsoever of the calculations, so I >decided to skip over that part and go on to the next part (capacitance) - >and look for other sources for explanations/examples of Kirchhoff's Rules >(which seem to relate directly to a battery-charging IC circuit I'm >trying to understand, so as to be able to adjust it for input of differnt >Volts and Amps). > >Overall, tho', the explanations and illustrtions do a good job- but I >wouldn't call it a "beginner's book", the reason being that the author >does include a good amount of theory that a totaly beginner wouldn't know >how to filter out. It also tends (so far, at least) to interleave AC and >DC concepts, which also might confuse a total beginner. I'm personally >interested in DC, so I'm skipping the AC parts (or else I'll get them >confused), but it is pretty easy to identify what ia AC or DC, and read >the necessary parts. > > >I've forgotten waht teh amazon.com price is, because I used a gift >certificate to buy it, but I recall that the paperback eidtion seemed to >me to be very reasonable in price (and I am pretty much a cheapskate), >and after receiving the book and giving it a once-over, the price si >*great* given both the wealth of information, and the high quality of the >paper and printing (meaning, crisp and highly legible printing, and paper >that looks like it will last for years). > > >Again, I've only gotten to Capacitance (IOW maybe 1/20th or so of the >book!), so I'll try to remember to comment more as I start studying later >chapters. > >HTH! > >- Kris I can cope with much of this. Though i might move the some of the math to appendices. | |||||||||||||
> "Practical Electronics for Inventors"
> (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0071452818)
> and I had a chance to work with it. THe book came this afternoon, so I
> havent' had a lto fo tiem with it yet, but so far, I'm very impressed.
> It's ahuge text, as in, notonly physiclaly large, but chock-full of info
> and explanations. It has a lto fo the "esoteric" math, but also explains
> concepts in ways that don't *require* the esoterica. I like that approach,
> becasue it allows you to go back to it once you get the more basic info,
> but also, what I've seen so far has actually helped me understand the more
> basic concepts.
>