Practical Electronics for Inventors 2/E
by Paul Scherz
List Price:
Our Price: $18.98
You Save: $20.97 (52%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $15.50 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Paul ScherzEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2006-09-01
ISBN: 0071452818
Number of pages: 952
Publisher: McGraw-Hill/TAB Electronics
Book Reviews of Practical Electronics for Inventors 2/E
Book Review: Great information & presentation, too many errata
Summary: 4 Stars
This book's intended audience is the serious engineer (probably with an engineering degree in a field other than electronics) looking to get into electronics. The book's title hints at this, and the book delivers on this level. This book is too advanced for the neophyte dabbler without any math background, who will quickly get lost in the math and the lack of "cookbook" examples. Make no mistake, there are plenty of example circuits, but they're provided to illustrate concepts-- they're not intended to be a recipe for constructing a real circuit (that's for the engineer to do!)
MATH: To appreciate this book, you must have a decent math background. This includes a solid working knowledge of advanced algebra and trigonometry, along with a 10000 foot view of calculus. A full working knowledge of actually solving differential equations is NOT required, but it's extremely helpful to know what derivatives and integrals look like and what they generally mean. However, the author never requires that you actually know how to solve any differential equations. Also, this book uses complex number theory, but the author provides all the details of complex number theory in the book, so there is no need to know it before reading.
After all those caveats, this is an excellent comprehensive introductory book on virtually all fundamental phenomenon and components of electronics. This includes the physics of the various electrical phenomenon, the real-life components that make up electronic circuits, and the basic "building-block" circuits that real-life circuits are built from. See the table of contents in Amazon's "look-inside" feature for an idea of the scope of topics. If you read and understand this book cover to cover, you will be designing, building, and testing your own basic circuits, without the need to ever rely on a "cookbook" circuit again.
This book does NOT cover the following:
* Advanced building-block circuits
* Specialty components and circuits
* Techniques and guidelines for designing difficult and advanced circuits
* The many "tricks" for designing and debugging circuits that years of experience will teach
* Advanced math for detailed analysis of circuits
The author's style is, above all else, pragmatic in every respect all the way to the very end. The explanations have the unmistakable and incessant theme of "THIS IS HOW IT WORKS AND WHY". The author trudges through as much (or as little) detail as necessary to enable the bright mind to understand, and then moves on to the next topic. Even when there is pure theory out of necessity, the author's style never strays far from cornerstone of always keeping things down to earth and practical.
This book is full of extensive explanations of the "WHY" of various phenomenon and components. For example, the phenomenon of "inductance" goes on for a dozen pages or so, explaining how the motion of electrons creates a magnetic field in a charging inductor, and how the magnetic fields create a back-voltage which acts against the flow of current. This explanation of inductance is decorated with dozens of detailed 3D illustrations showing the wire, electrons, magnetic fields, currents, voltages, etc. Other phenomenon are described in similar detail. The physics and theory that the author presents do not overwhelm you, but are sufficient to leave you feeling like you really understand the phenomenon, rather than just having to accept something as magic.
I gave this book 4 stars instead of 5 because there are too many errata, especially in the theory section. The book is in need of a simple editing pass by a person who understands EE. This is a shame because most of the errata are silly typos or accidental oversights, but they can confuse your ability to understand something when you're learning for the first time.
Summary of Practical Electronics for Inventors 2/E
THE BOOK THAT MAKES ELECTRONICS MAKE SENSE
This intuitive, applications-driven guide to electronics for hobbyists, engineers, and students doesn't overload readers with technical detail. Instead, it tells you-and shows you-what basic and advanced electronics parts and components do, and how they work. Chock-full of illustrations, Practical Electronics for Inventors offers over 750 hand-drawn images that provide clear, detailed instructions that can help turn theoretical ideas into real-life inventions and gadgets.CRYSTAL CLEAR AND COMPREHENSIVE
Covering the entire field of electronics, from basics through analog and digital, AC and DC, integrated circuits (ICs), semiconductors, stepper motors and servos, LCD displays, and various input/output devices, this guide even includes a full chapter on the latest microcontrollers. A favorite memory-jogger for working electronics engineers, Practical Electronics for Inventors is also the ideal manual for those just getting started in circuit design. If you want to succeed in turning your ideas into workable electronic gadgets and inventions, is THE book. Starting with a light review of electronics history, physics, and math, the book provides an easy-to-understand overview of all major electronic elements, including: Basic passive components o Resistors, capacitors, inductors, transformers o Discrete passive circuits o Current-limiting networks, voltage dividers, filter circuits, attenuators o Discrete active devices o Diodes, transistors, thrysistors o Microcontrollers o Rectifiers, amplifiers, modulators, mixers, voltage regulatorsENTHUSIASTIC READERS HELPED US MAKE THIS BOOK EVEN BETTER
This revised, improved, and completely updated second edition reflects suggestions offered by the loyal hobbyists and inventors who made the first edition a bestseller. Reader-suggested improvements in this guide include:- Thoroughly expanded and improved theory chapter
- New sections covering test equipment, optoelectronics, microcontroller circuits, and more
- New and revised drawings
- Answered problems throughout the book
Practical Electronics for Inventors takes you through reading schematics, building and testing prototypes, purchasing electronic components, and safe work practices. You'll find all thisin a guide that's destined to get your creative-and inventive-juices flowing.
Engineering Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Engineering Books
Latitude Hooks and Azimuth Rings: How to Build and Use 18 Traditional Navigational Instrumentsby Dennis Fisher
International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press; Published: 1994-12-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.21
Price in other shops:
Troubleshooting Marine Dieselsby Peter Compton
International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press; Published: 1997-09-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $11.78
Price in other shops:
Communication Systemsby A. Bruce Carlson, Paul Crilly, Janet Rutledge
McGraw-Hill Science/Engineering/Math; Published: 2001-06-25; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $25.00
Voice and Data Communications Handbook (Mcgraw-Hill Series on Computer Communications)by Regis J. Bates, Donald W. Gregory, Bud Bates
Mcgraw-Hill (Tx); Published: 1996-02; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.25
Price in other shops:
Engineering Circuit Analysisby William Hayt, Jack Kemmerly, Steven Durbin
McGraw-Hill Science/Engineering/Math; Published: 2007-02-20; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $109.95
Thermodynamics: An Engineering Approach w/ Student Resources DVDby Yunus A. Cengel, Michael A. Boles
McGraw-Hill Science/Engineering/Math; Published: 2005-06-03; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $110.99
Alien Agendaby Jim Marrs
HarperTorch; Published: 1998-07-08; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.00
Price in other shops:
The Yard: Building a Destroyer at the Bath Iron Worksby Michael S. Sanders
HarperCollins; Published: 1999-11-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $6.49
Price in other shops:
Laboratory Manual for Microelectronic Circuitsby Smith Sedra, Adel S. Sedra
Oxford University Press; Published: 1991-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $168.50
Longitudeby Dava Sobel
Harpercollins Audio; Published: 1996-12-02; Hardcover; Book
Similar Books and other products
Fundamentals of Biomechanics: Equilibrium, Motion, and Deformationby Dawn L. Leger, Nihat Özkaya
Springer; Published: 1999-06-10; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $71.79
Price in other shops:
Biological Thermodynamicsby Donald T. Haynie
Cambridge University Press; Published: 2008-03-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $18.97
Price in other shops:
All New Electronics Self-Teaching Guide (Wiley Self Teaching Guides)by Harry Kybett, Earl Boysen
Wiley; Published: 2008-05-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $17.78
Price in other shops:
Introduction to Aircraft Flight Dynamics (Aiaa Education Series)by Louis V. Schmidt
Amer Inst of Aeronautics &; Published: 1998-03; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $94.95
Schaum's Outline of Basic Circuit Analysis, Second Edition (Schaum's Outline Series)by John O'Malley
McGraw-Hill; Published: 2011-01-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.36
Price in other shops:
Orbital Mechanics for Engineering Students, Second Edition (Aerospace Engineering)by Howard Curtis
Butterworth-Heinemann; Published: 2009-11-09; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $65.86
Price in other shops:
The Art of Electronicsby Paul Horowitz, Winfield Hill
Cambridge University Press; Published: 1989-07-28; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $82.43
Price in other shops:
Getting Started in Electronicsby Forrest M. Mims III
Master Publishing, Inc.; Published: 2003-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $19.69
Price in other shops:
How to Diagnose and Fix Everything Electronicby Michael Geier
McGraw-Hill/TAB Electronics; Published: 2011-01-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.08
Price in other shops:
Make: Electronics (Learning by Discovery)by Charles Platt
Make; Published: 2009-12-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $19.79
Price in other shops: