Very simple electronics book

[diynoise]

Hi all!
I don't know almost anything about electronics, but I would like to learn it and be able to at least design simple circuits. My long term project is to learn digital design and designing digital systems with fpgas.
 
I have an arduino laying around which I never really used, and I had idea for a little project which I think would require only the arduino and a couple of piezos for sensors. I would love to study a book like Art of Electronics which would explain everything thoroughly, but I lack the math skills necessary. I am self-learning single variable calculus on the mit OCW website, I have some hundreds of hours of video and thousands of exercises ahead, and it will take months at least 

So, here's the question. Could you recommend a VERY simple book which is VERY light on math?

[jancumps]

The Art of Electronics is very light on the math.
(comment from someone who is know to have poor math skills)

[c4757p]

AoE is very light on math, but is not very simple! That said, I recommend it to just about anyone who wants to learn about circuits... but if you're looking for something simple, AoE is not it. It is a (very good) textbook and reads like one.

Now, my recommendation would be to lose the "simple" requirement, not to skip over AoE. It's an awesome book.

[jancumps]

True that AoE is not that simple.
Forrest Mims announced that RS is republishing some of his work. That got countless people started.

[diynoise]

I probably should have specified that I would have liked something light on math and simple while i learned the math necessary to study on a more "serious" book. 

So do you recommend AoE as a first book? I have my mouse pointed over the buy button 

[Chris_PL]

Practical Electronics for Inventors is also worth recommending. ( http://www.amazon.com/Practical-Electronics-Inventors-Third-Edition/dp/0071771336 )

[c4757p]

So do you recommend AoE as a first book? I have my mouse pointed over the buy button 

I recommend it to students and serious hobbyists (basically, hobbyists who want to become engineers). I think someone motivated enough to be teaching himself calculus will benefit from that book.

AoE has no actual calculus, IIRC. It does mention derivatives (i = C dv/dt, v = L di/dt), but not in a way that you actually need to fully understand them to proceed.

[fcb]

Adventures In Electronics by Tom Duncan

[QuantumKnight]

I have just recently bought Practical Electronics for Inventors. it is very in depth and easy to read. I recommend it as it can be for beginners and experts. Chapter 2 deals with theory and contains a lot of calculus level math but it can be skipped if you want just the basics.

[Markybhoy]

Im new and picked up Make Electronics by Charles Platt,  this is more project based rather than the dry theory.

[IanB]

AoE has no actual calculus, IIRC. It does mention derivatives (i = C dv/dt, v = L di/dt), but not in a way that you actually need to fully understand them to proceed.

IMHO this is the only amount of calculus you need to manage with basic electronic circuit design. As long as you don't get into stuff like poles and zeros and predicting the stability of feedback loops you will not really need advanced calculus or differential equations.

There are two levels of design in engineering:

The first is practical design, where you understand the essential functions of circuit components and basic building blocks, and you use simulation, breadboarding and experimentation to iron out the wrinkles. You use simple arithmetic, formulas from data sheets and rules of thumb to get your circuits to work.

The second is analytical design, where you use detailed device models, mathematics and predictive calculations to plan out your circuits and work out exact component values.

Expert designers use both, but you can really manage very well at the hobbyist level if you only get as far as practical design. All engineers through history have done practical design in the early days before the fully detailed theory was ever established and written down (or before they learned it).

[diynoise]

You all have been extremely helpful. And you brought good news too!   
I bought AoE and can't wait for it to arrive 

[lapm]

The Art of Electronics is very light on the math.
(comment from someone who is know to have poor math skills)

Im poor on math and have that book. Planning buying the next edition once it gets published as well.

Would highly recommend it even if its bit outdated from some sections, but mostly still very very useful stuff. And if your lucky, you might find it second hand used at very good price...

[miceuz]

I'd say AoE will not take you far if you are a beginner.

It's the great reference book that contains solutions to the most common problems, but in my opinion it's not the one that will hold your hand from battery-resistor-led to closed loop stability analysis.

I've listed thru Practical Electronics for Inventors - it's far more friendly in this regard.

[PA4TIM]

The AoE is in my opinion not a wrong choise for a beginner but you are right, it is more acedemic, it teaches you in electronics theory and upto a very good level. If you have troubles learning in general, it can be harder because it is very thick and complete. It is not a book you read in a few weeks. If I'm correct it was written for some university electronics course. 

I have not read it complete. I spend about 6 months to study every day an hour or two and worked myself through the first chapters. I also read some of the more special chapters that related to my interests. The other chapters I use as reference and read them if I need to know more about a subject. I have it for something like 4 years now and I think I now have studied about 80% of the book. I never used microcontrollers and now I'm experimenting with them so now I'm reading the chapter about digital stuff. Ít is old but the pure basics ( about gates, bits and bytes) are still very usable.

You can use it an other way. For instance the chapter about transistors or opamps first tell you what every book will tell you about the basics but it does not stop there. However, the reader can stop at the point that he thinks it is enough and read that later if he wants to know more. And it is nice to have a good reference in house when you need to know something. We have internet now but the problem is to know what is correct and what not.

[IntegratedValve]

Hi all!
I don't know almost anything about electronics, but I would like to learn it and be able to at least design simple circuits. My long term project is to learn digital design and designing digital systems with fpgas.
 
I have an arduino laying around which I never really used, and I had idea for a little project which I think would require only the arduino and a couple of piezos for sensors. I would love to study a book like Art of Electronics which would explain everything thoroughly, but I lack the math skills necessary. I am self-learning single variable calculus on the mit OCW website, I have some hundreds of hours of video and thousands of exercises ahead, and it will take months at least 

So, here's the question. Could you recommend a VERY simple book which is VERY light on math?

Before you can move to Electronics, you need to understand the foundation principles of Electric Circuits. For a good introductory and practical book I would recommend: Introductory Circuit Analysis by Robert L. Boylestad

I've looked at many electronics book and I found this one the most complete text on the subject: Electronic Principles by Albert Malvino and David Bates.
It covers all major circuits in analog electronics and it's not heavy on math, basic algebra will suffice.

Regarding the classic, "The Art of Electronics" it's nice to have but as they say it's not for beginners, and it's not for advanced either since it's light on math, then I would recommend a more practical book: Practical Electronics for Inventors by Paul and Simon.

For Digital Electronics I strongly recommend: Digital Fundamentals by Floyd. It's not heavy on theory, with many practical examples and applications.

BTW electronics and "light math" clash. When you are into real electronics you are in fact in the quantum physics world.

[Kappes Buur]

Learning electronics is, as everything else, a step by step process.
First some theory, then some hands-on stuff, more theory and building simple circuits, more theory, etc.
A good approach is taught by www.techideas.co.nz , it's not very demanding and every step seems to integrate easily.

The internet abounds with websites dedicated to teaching electronics and showing some practical examples, for example:

http://www.learningelectronics.net/
http://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/
http://books.google.ca/books?id=PUm8tCA6L-kC&pg=PA373&lpg=PA373&dq=john+boxall+arduino+workshop&source=bl&ots=6moPi100fY&sig=iZnIW_APhqTq_BKYvTyc4obQHLw&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Dyz_UfvyEaasigLy54HoCg&ved=0CC4Q6AEwATgo#v=onepage&q=john%20boxall%20arduino%20workshop&f=false
http://www.learnabout-electronics.org/index.php
http://www.coolcircuit.com/
http://pcbheaven.com/
http://dr-iguana.com/
http://home.cogeco.ca/~rpaisley4/LM555.html#6
http://webpages.ursinus.edu/lriley/ref/circuits/node5.html
http://tymkrs.tumblr.com/archive
http://electronicsclub.info/
http://mdiy.pl/?lang=en
http://www.zen22142.zen.co.uk/

When it comes to books, check out Google books .
Also, do you have access to a public library? They usually have many books on the subject.

Many universities also have online resources, although they seem to be a bit more difficult to find.
Such as: http://whites.sdsmt.edu/