Good books to learn from?

[canman]

Hi everyone,

I was at Fry's not too long ago, and they had an Electronics for Dummies book...I started flipping through it and it seems like that book is a pretty decent way of educating myself.

Does anyone have this book, and is it a good way to learn more about electronics?  And if not, are there other books out there you guys would recommend, that are easy to understand?  (I'm not in school anymore and don't have the luxury of a teacher explaining the readings, haha)

Thanks!

[tonyharker]

Hi canman you can download a copy free here http://it-ebooks.info/book/1648/

Tony

[canman]

That is AWESOME, thanks so much!

[Seljer]

The Art of Electronics by Paul Horowitz.

It's not quite as simple as the for dummies book to get you started but you the book basically has a lifetime of use within it.

[GibsonGM]

How about the old Forrest Mimms books??  "Engineer's mini notebooks". They were great, esp. the ones around projects like 555 circuits, sensors, etc.

Another thing I used to read a lot were the ARRL Ham Radio handbooks (library, maybe...)...they had a lot of good theory, would work problems thru so you can see what's going on.  A lot in there we'll never use, tho!

[Kipper4]

Have you tried ;Electrical engineering 101 ?
I have it on PDF so not a book per say.

[canman]

Thanks for all the suggestions...looks like I have lots of reading to do!

Kipper4...how does one go about getting a PDF copy of Electrical Engineering 101?

[lapsteelman]

How about the old Forrest Mimms books??  "Engineer's mini notebooks". They were great, esp. the ones around projects like 555 circuits, sensors, etc.

Another thing I used to read a lot were the ARRL Ham Radio handbooks (library, maybe...)...they had a lot of good theory, would work problems thru so you can see what's going on.  A lot in there we'll never use, tho!

This + Craig Andertons Electronic Projects for Musicians , Projects for Guitarist.  I learned a lot from the old semiconductor data books just leafing through and trying to understand the circuits.

[MaxPower]

Electronic Principles by Malvino
Transistor Circuit Approximations by Malvino

[antonis]

Electronics Devices & Circuits by J. Millman & C. Halkias..

(if you want a more analytical math approach..)

[tranceracer]

I'll add:

R.G.'s PCB Layout For Musical Effects PCB Layout For Musical Effects book is good for effects.
Small Bear has it.

Also Practical Electronics for Inventors by Paul Scherz.

[GibsonGM]

Don't know why I didn't think of this....Designing Tube Preamps for Guitar and Bass, by Merlin B!   (search internet for "Valve Wizard", it's a small production book but very enlightening about tubes, and R-C filtering, etc!)

[thehallofshields]

I am enjoying my .pdf copy of Grobs Basic Electronics.

[PRR]

> Electronic Principles by Malvino

+1

Excellent book with good basic exercises.

> Electronics for Dummies book...I started flipping through it

The Wiley "For Dummies" brand books are *usually* worth the cover price.

And anything by O'Reilly books is sure worth the price. (Note that this page includes non-O'Reilly books.)

Horowitz is slightly above "basic", it would be good to have an introduction. Milman is heavy stuff, for-later; there is a perhaps-legit copy on Archive.org. (Milman worked 1950s-1960s, but we are still using the same electrons, just in different devices.)

But if you really want to LEARN, don't "flip". Did you learn guitar 10 notes at a time? No, you sat down for an hour or two and focused, even zoned-out. It takes at least that long to get in a groove where what you are exposed to sinks-in and gets to your finger-memory (or head-memory).

Don't skimp the basics. To play the blues you pay your dues. Many hours of scales and chords and beats. You can NOT understand transistors until you are able to solve voltage/resistor problems like you can find "C" on your strings-- no conscious thought.

> you can download a copy free here

It is not clear to me that this is a "legit" download. Maybe Wiley has released the copyright; maybe this is a bootleg copy.

In general, if authors don't get paid, they don't write. So it is wise to buy whenever possible.

[disto]

The art of electronics (Horowitz) was recommended to me by university lecturers. Its fairly old now but a new edition is being written. I found Craig Andertons books basic so they might be a good starting point. However alot of the components are hard to find or no longer produced.

[pupil]

This is a picture from the Fairfield Circuitry website. Any idea what that book is?

[PRR]

Another stunningly good book (recc'ed by several here) is:


Transistor Circuit Approximations, THIRD Edition, 1980, Malvino
http://www.amazon.com/Transistor-Circuit-Approximations-Albert-Malvino/dp/007039878X

IMHO, the 3rd is better than the earlier editions, and better than his later Semiconductor Circuit Approximations of 1985. And cheap ($8-$10).

[canman]

Awesome, thanks for the suggestion!  Love the price tag, too!

[monksanto]

This is a picture from the Fairfield Circuitry website. Any idea what that book is?

"Electronic Circuits" by  E.J. Angelo Jr.

[armdnrdy]

This is a picture from the Fairfield Circuitry website. Any idea what that book is?

"Electronic Circuits" by  E.J. Angelo Jr.

"Electronic Circuits" by  E.J. Angelo Jr.

"Published in 1958"

You might want to find a newer book that discusses components that are still in production!