Art of Electronics for christmas?

[foges]

hey guys,
I want a book on electronics for christmas as ill be studying electrical engineering next year (ETH Zurich), so through amazon i found Art of Electronics, which has some great reviews. Anyways I am wondering if any of you guys has any experience with this book and can tell me how suited it would be for someone who just finished high school?

(im really looking for a book that will give me a taster as to what ill be doing the next couple of years and will teach me how to build some basic circuits)

Thanks

 

[ozymandias]

Hey foges,

The Art of Electronics is definitely a book that you will keep on your bookshelf for many years, as it is deep and insightful, but I'm afraid that it's not very applications-oriented. It's more about design principles than the actual construction of real-world circuits. You will not be disappointing buying it, but be forewarned that it is more of a reference than a book you can read cover to cover.
If you have no experience building electronic/electric circuits, I'd recommend buying some basic beginner books which may become obsolete as you grow, but will be much easier and more fun at this point of your education.

--------
Assaf
http://www.physicallyincorrect.com/"

 

[waht]

You will get more than you bargained for. Art of Electronics is a classic. It will show you how to do electronics the right way.

 

[ranger]

Make sure you also get the accompanying student manual for AoE. Its filled with extra goodies.

 

[Dr Transport]

Now that I've taken a semester of electronics from a physics department, I can finally read my copy and understand it.

Horowicz and Hill is not for the faint hearted, but with some background a really really good reference.

 

[chroot]

It's outdated (don't focus too much on which part numbers it mentions, since most of them have been improved since) but you can learn a tremendous amount of insight from it just the same.

- Warren

 

[ranger]

Horowicz and Hill is not for the faint hearted, but with some background a really really good reference.

Really? You make it sound hard. I find it to be the most competent text at an introduction level. You'd need only high school math to grasp most of the material in H&H.

 

[foges]

Thanks guys, ill get it then.

@ozymandias: what beginners books would you recommend? I already have Electronics for Dummies and i found it to be a cruddy book.

 

[ozymandias]

Beginners' books? That's really a good question. I'm sorry but I don't have an actual recommendation, as I've never run across one. It's hard to find a book that doesn't treat its readers as idiots, and yet is practical (in the sense that it shows you how to build ACTUAL things, such as an audio amplifier).

--------
Assaf
http://www.physicallyincorrect.com/"

 

[ranger]

On the analog end of things, you can get books by http://www.prenhall.com/boylestad/. It is not that mathematically rigorous and can be followed with high school level math. For example it does not use differential equations to analyze capacitor and inductor circuits. Calculus is used occasionally, but not in such a way that you will fell left out. This book will give you a good idea of what you'll study in your circuits courses in college. At the end of most chapters, you'll find an applications section. This section discusses some real world circuit applications as it relates to the material in the chapter.

Unfortunately, I cannot recommend a good book on digital electronics that's suited for your level. Perhaps someone else can pitch in here.

Here are some other books:
Electronic Circuits for the Evil Genius by Cutcher, Dave
Engineer's Notebook by Mims, Forrest
Electronics. 2nd ed by Crecraft, D., and D. Gorham

Books here are recommended with emphasis on practical applications. The book by Boylestad is not so much for practical applications, but to give a gentle introduction into circuit theory.

Have Fun!

 

[Dr Transport]

Really? You make it sound hard. I find it to be the most competent text at an introduction level. You'd need only high school math to grasp most of the material in H&H.

I would not list it as an introductory level, now if you learn like they present it, you're going to do very well with it. Myself, I was out of phase 180 degrees with my intsructor this semester in the electronic class I took. I tend to look at material I am learning in a very structured manner and do not like to have it introduced with a lot of hand waving.