Bridging the gap....

I've looked in the Meta for a good book, and have come to a conclusion that most of them are very basic, or on the other end of the spectrum, way over my head.

I know what a capcitor is, what it does, and how it applies. I don't need that. I need something that explains WHY. Why this part, at this value, in the location in the circuit. A book that expands on fundamental knowledge. I want a book that will help me bridge the gap from dumb, to brilliant.

What do you y'all recomend? :green: :sam: :guinness:

Horowitz and Hill, The Art of Electronics ( http://www.artofelectronics.com/ ).

I've had my 1st Ed copy since 1988, and not a week goes by that I don't consult it. The microprocessor chapters are a bit out of date (as can be expected with pretty much anything that's been in print for a few years), but all the analog bits are clear and well-written. Discusses topologies, biasing, filtering, noise analysis and much, much more.

JDB.
[about the only thing it doesn't cover are tubes]

[quote author="jdbakker"]Horowitz and Hill, The Art of Electronics ( http://www.artofelectronics.com/ ).

I've had my 1st Ed copy since 1988, and not a week goes by that I don't consult it. The microprocessor chapters are a bit out of date (as can be expected with pretty much anything that's been in print for a few years), but all the analog bits are clear and well-written. Discusses topologies, biasing, filtering, noise analysis and much, much more.

JDB.
[about the only thing it doesn't cover are tubes][/quote]

Everyone here mentions that book but I can't located it. amazon.com has it for sale, but it's like 80 dollars and the Nashville library shows all thier copes as stolen :evil:

The Art of Electronics is an excellent book and is well worth the $80. Really for the kind of book you are looking for there are many more expensive and less valuable. I have several textbooks that I had to get for university that cost more, but I always refer to the Art of Electronics before I refer to them.

http://search.ebay.com/art-electronics_W0QQfromZR40

Be sure to get the second edition (1989). That's the one you're most likely to find, anyway.

Me, I bought mine new. It was worth every penny. But if you can pick up a used copy and save a few bucks, all the better. It's going to end up dog-eared from use, anyway.

I bought an international edition off Ebay a few months ago. These editions aren't supposed to be sold in North America, they are low-cost publications intended for poorer countries. Coincidentally, I am poor.

I would recommend getting the student manual. The text is not detailed enough to be considered "University textbook" quality without the student manual as a supplement. I find it hard to learn a concept without very detailed background information, I always have questions. I have a very hard time digesting information from Morgan Jones' Valve Amplifiers book because of this reason.

William

A search on www.bookfinder.com (author Horowitz, book title Art of Electronics) shows many low-priced copies of the first edition and some of the second edition. I would be wary of ordering ones directly from India, but those aren't the only cheap ones.

As far as the quality of the book---it is really a great job. Not perfect, but damn close. It has been so successful that I hope it didn't make Horowitz's colleagues too jealous and retaliatory. But there is a huge amount of material, so as a textbook for a necessarily short class or two it's a bit overwhelming, and students have complained.

I recently bought a DSP programming textbook from Amazon (used) and got one of those low quality Indian printings.

I suspect there is an small industry buying them there and selling them here.

JR

[quote author="JohnRoberts"]I recently bought a DSP programming textbook from Amazon (used) and got one of those low quality Indian printings.

JR[/quote]

I love books. Besides their content I love their appearance, the heft, the texture of the paper and the cover, the smell. I will go out of my way to purchase a hard cover copy if it's available, and in lieu of a cheaper copy put off the purchase if I can't afford it immediately. I'll buy used hardback over new paper unless the hardback is really decrepit. I am upset when they ship in a way that results in dented corners from handling, and I leave feedback when I can.

But, from a purely utilitarian perspective I guess there is much to recommend in the budget editions.

As mentioned they are low cost International Editions produced for the local market - the quality of the pictures is poor - but the text is fine
Go to any of the shops in Connaught Place in Delhi and you can come away with bargains (I did and saved a fortune in SAP books in 1997 -three books for 200 Rupees - £3 odd as opposed to £150)

edit - hint: if you go on holiday travel with one persons baggage allowance (the laundry system in India is superb and cheap) - buy a 3 foot long by 2 foot wide by 1 foot deep - aluminium case over there (it will get dented on the flight home - but it only costs £5) - load this up th books and sundry and use it as the second persons baggage allowance for the flight back

I am always getting my collegues to buy me books on IT and Recording when they travel back to India

Sorry for the aside...
I got Horowitz for £2..

I would imagine there'd be a brisk trade in engineering texts in India. They've gotta train all those new engineers who'll be taking over our jobs :?

[quote author="NewYorkDave"]http://search.ebay.com/art-electronics_W0QQfromZR40

Be sure to get the second edition (1989). That's the one you're most likely to find, anyway.

Me, I bought mine new. It was worth every penny. But if you can pick up a used copy and save a few bucks, all the better. It's going to end up dog-eared from use, anyway.[/quote]


Thanks for the link Dave. I just picked up a copy!

[quote author="NewYorkDave"]I would imagine there'd be a brisk trade in engineering texts in India. They've gotta train all those new engineers who'll be taking over our jobs :?[/quote]

What we need is to get a little more proactive with this outsourcing stuff.. like getting some engineers from India to lurk here, and we can hook up and work out our own personal out source deal..

Like we email them a problem at the end of our work day, and they work on it for several ruppees while we sleep. First thing the next morning we check out email and have answers instead of the problem where we left it.

If you have a boss that rewards results you could share the fruits of your enhanced productivity and still come out ahead.

Of course most people prefer to post questions here and get answers for free... :roll:

JR

Go for the used books.
Bindings fold out like a newspaper, and sometimes you get cool scribbles.
Ordered a book on laminations. Used. Amazon says: "formally at the Phillips Lab-warning- engineering notes scribbled in margins!"

I'll take it!
:thumb:

Not all the Indian copies are the same! You can still get the 'Good' version out on Cambridge for pretty cheap if you can locate the 'Low Price Edition' which is basically the same book but printed and subsided for 3rd world countries including Africa (bonus for me!), India, The Carribean, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

I'm very happy with my copy and it only cost around $30 brand new from the local university.

Cheers

Matt

[quote author="CJ"]Go for the used books.
Bindings fold out like a newspaper, and sometimes you get cool scribbles.
Ordered a book on laminations. Used. Amazon says: "formally at the Phillips Lab-warning- engineering notes scribbled in margins!"

I'll take it!
:thumb:[/quote]

Haha! Yes, those could be useful. OTOH it's a fine line. A used bookstore had some volumes from the estate of a chem prof at Caltech and he wrote a lot in his books. Of course the store was pitching the idea that this was charming and helpful and didn't detract from the value.

Reminds of when I signed a credit-card receipt once and told the recipient "You might want to hold on to that---it may be valuable someday."

But then I only have myself to blame for the run of bogus charges that ensued.