What Is the Best EE Fundamentals Book for Lifelong Reference?

[SELFMADE]

Hello EE community,

What would you consider the best fundamentals book for EE/CE? The kind of book that you would keep for a lifetime for reference. I am looking for nothing too basic. But one that encompasses fundamentals of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

My search around Amazon led me to insufficient results.

Thanks in advance and have a great day!

 

[SELFMADE]

Can anyone suggest a great book? I need a starting point. Searched around on amazon but most seem to have inadequate ratings.

 

[jasonRF]

Perhaps the reason why you have no replies is that at least some EEs never read such a book. I'm not even sure what level this book would be and what material it would include. I finished my Bachelor's in EE 20+ years ago, am still working as an engineer, and have never had a need for such a book and cannot even recall seeing one on the bookshelf of a co-worker... What exactly are you wanting to learn? Perhaps there are better resources for what you are looking for!

jason

 

[SuperDaniel]

Maybe you want a handbook, or something similar as a reference source, for instance, The Natinal Electrical Code Handbook:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0071834788/?tag=pfamazon01-20

As Jason mentioned, that's depend on what are you looking for and your interests. I totally agree, in my 18 years as engineer, I have never seen a colleague with a book, and, I've worked, almost, all around the world, in both, developed and undeveloped countries.

During that period of time, I allways looked for information with the wise old guys, as well as reeding magazines from the IEEE, MIT, etc.

Personally, I joined this forum because I want to come back to study physics, and, people around here is helping me a lot...

 

[jamesgo]

I would suggest https://www.amazon.com/dp/0521370957/?tag=pfamazon01-20 by Paul Horowitz and Winfield Hill. Often when you buy a reference book, you sacrifice its readability for its terseness. As with introduction books, you are given many concepts in a readable format but sacrifice other topics. The Art of Electronics finds a nice middle ground between these two. While many topics are out of date--I believe a new edition is coming out this year, the book contains a breath of topics that covers everything electronic from RC circuits to microprocessor design (again pretty out of date but still pretty relevant). I may also add it is more of a pragmatic book than a theoretical book, but that's pretty expected. It has some good design tips that I believe most engineers will find useful.

As for a "wonder" book, I agree with SuperDaniel and jasonRF. Although Art of Electronics is well-written, you should not completely rely on it. Read IEEE. Join forums. See how other people are doing it. Find a mentor. Be a mentor. Read papers in computer science, mathematics, and even biology. Even discipline brings a new perspectives to the table. Examples would include biomimetics or systems biology. And sometimes a problem is as beautiful as its solution.