The Art of Electronics

[Heithrun]

I've started reading The Art of Electronics 2nd Edition.  The book has exercises but, does not give you the answers.  So i did a search on the web if anyone has listed them.  And no one has, which really surprises me.  The book has been out for 26 years.  I was wondering if it's a taboo to do so or has no one just bothered to do it?

[mazurov]

Have you checked accompanying "Student Manual", ISBN 978-521-37709-6 ?

[Heithrun]

No, I dont have the student manual.  But the Student Manual isnt an answer key to the main book, its supplemental material.

[JacquesBBB]

By the way,
I just received this email from amazon.co.uk

We have received new release date information related to the order you placed on January 25 2015 (Order# xxx).

The items listed below will actually be dispatched sooner than we had originally expected based on the new release date:

 Horowitz, Paul "The Art of Electronics"
   Previous estimated arrival date: May 07 2015 - May 08 2015
   New estimated arrival date: April 15 2015 - April 16 2015

So the new edition will be soon here

[Mr.B]

I am looking forward to this book.

I haven't had such an email.

I pre-purchased on January 21.

My Amazon account still shows:
"
Delivery estimate:
We need a little more time to provide you with a good estimate.
We'll notify you via e-mail as soon as we have an estimated delivery date.
"

[EEVblog]

We're not worthy, we're not worthy, we're not worthy...

[Mr.B]

So Dave, by that picture I can assume it is the bible of electronics...
I am very happy I have ordered it if that is your highly esteemed opinion.
Cannot wait for it to be shipped.

[JamesHowlett]

I would like to buy one to improve my electronics knowledge but It is expensive

[tggzzz]

I would like to buy one to improve my electronics knowledge but It is expensive

Knowledge has always been expensive.  Ignorance is even more expensive.

Standard "joke"...

Technician is called in to fix a car, hums and hars a bit, then thumps the engine. It starts working and he submits an invoice for £100. Customer moans that £100 is much too expensive for hitting an engine. The technician, concurs, and resubmits an invoice for "£1 for thumping the engine, £99 for knowing where and how hard to thump".

(Except for the invoice, I once did that, much to the owners relief and surprise!)

[JacquesBBB]

Dave,
I share your admiration for this book. I have read many  technical  books in various fields and
there are only very few that have the clarity of writing and deep content of  "The Art of Electronics".

@JamesHowlett :
It would be expensive if you were thinking of it as an ordinary book, like many of those that are
more  consumable that could be thrown  away just after the reading (if ever you read it).
The last edition of  "The Art of Electronics" last for 26 years and is still a good book.
Moreover,  if you were limiting your electronic library to this single book,
it would still  be a decent electronic library.

[janoc]

It is really a good book. I have an "Indian" version of the 2nd ed. (available through eBay, basically no color images/text and cheaper paper in a "paperbacky" binding, but costs a lot less compared to the "western" edition) and it really is a bible. Both because of the volume and the content.

The digital stuff is fairly obsolete in the 2nd ed (obviously, considering that it is 20+ years old), but the basics and the analog part in general are still great. I have learned a lot from it already.

I do wonder whether it is worth the money to buy the 3rd ed, given that I have the older edition. I don't care all that much about the digital stuff because that I can find elsewhere already.

[JacquesBBB]

@janoc

I have the same Indian version of the 2nd edition, quite surprisingly available  on amazon. I bought also the student manual from the same source which is also a very nice book for practical lab classes.

I have the same feeling as  you :  the analog part is the one that matters in "The art of Electronics". This is the one that I would like to see updated in the new edition. We will see soon, as probably  Dave will give an account of  the content of his exemplary.

[JamesHowlett]

I would like to buy one to improve my electronics knowledge but It is expensive

Knowledge has always been expensive.  Ignorance is even more expensive.

Standard "joke"...

Technician is called in to fix a car, hums and hars a bit, then thumps the engine. It starts working and he submits an invoice for £100. Customer moans that £100 is much too expensive for hitting an engine. The technician, concurs, and resubmits an invoice for "£1 for thumping the engine, £99 for knowing where and how hard to thump".

(Except for the invoice, I once did that, much to the owners relief and surprise!)

Nice joke and you are absolutely right. There are tons of information on internet but having all complete in a "useful" book is precious. I check my institutes library today but no chance I may order a used copy of second edition any time soon

[drakke]

So is the third edition a significant upgrade over the 2nd edition?

[JacquesBBB]

You can already compare the Table of contents by downloading the full Table of content of Edition 3 at

http://artofelectronics.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/AoE_3e_table-of-contents.pdf

It seems that they have  avoided  to be specific on any short lived microcontroller, and
really focused on the fundamental concepts of electronics.
In particular, Arduino is only mentioned and occupied less than a page, which is in my sense a very good choice.

This edition time of validity can thus be expected to be even longer than the previous one.

[notaroketscientist]

We're not worthy, we're not worthy, we're not worthy...

The photo is all the endorsement anyone should need. I bought it.

[drakke]

It seems that they have  avoided  to be specific on any short lived microcontroller, and
really focused on the fundamental concepts of electronics.
In particular, Arduino is only mentioned and occupied less than a page, which is in my sense a very good choice.

Should these chapters be read sequentially or is this more of a reference?
How much prior competence is required to take full advantage?

[JacquesBBB]

Let me just quote myself from another post on "Practical Electronics for Inventors".

Two years ago, I started electronics as a complete
beginner, there were two books that I found very helpful to start :

- Make : Electronics from Charles Platt (which is at a lower level than Practical electronics ..)
- Practical Electronics for Inventors (which  has also the advantage of being very cheap).

Then I went  to "The Art of Electronics" which is a pure marvel. But it was too difficult as a first step,
because of the too rich content. So Practical Electronics was a good intermediary step for
The art of Electronics.

Now that  know a little bit more, I never go back to "Make: Electronics",  but I come back to "Practical electronics",
and most often  to "The art of Electronics" which is the kind of book that you will never master completely.
Every time you read again a chapter, you find something new.

In addition to that, I would say that if you are already familiar with electronics, you can go directly to AOE.  The difficulty I mention is not from the technical part, but from the density of the content. The mathematical part is limited to a minimum, and summarised in a 3 pages appendix ( cosine, sine, exponential, derivative ).

I have read it entirely once, and then go back to it regularly as a reference. I am really looking forward  getting my new copy, and I am anticipating the joy I will have to read it again entirely  in this new edition, which looks extremely promising from the detailed Table of content.

[mrgregs]

*Looks over at his copy of the first edition, held together with tape*

There's a second edition?? 

And who knows, I might need to design a 8085 based computer at some point!

Seriously, though, it is a wonderful book, but not for the faint hearted - as JacquesBBB says, the content is very dense. Nonetheless it is the book you find yourself keep going back to, just to brush up on theory, as it is written so well.

[tggzzz]

The photo is all the endorsement anyone should need. I bought it.

Right action, but  for the wrong reason Avoid personality cults!

[tggzzz]

It seems that they have  avoided  to be specific on any short lived microcontroller, and
really focused on the fundamental concepts of electronics.
In particular, Arduino is only mentioned and occupied less than a page, which is in my sense a very good choice.

Should these chapters be read sequentially or is this more of a reference?

Yes

How much prior competence is required to take full advantage?

To fully understand, you need their level of competence

However, repeated reading will allow you to asymptotically approach their competence. Hopefully that will allow you to become more competent than them in your chosen field.

[JacquesBBB]

Blofeld posted this in the general chat

I have done a short review of Chapter 9 (Voltage Regulation and Power Conversion) of the 3rd edition. Rest assured that this is perfectly legal, I have linked to the post by Winfield Hill where he says that "You can share the link, and the file as well".

http://www.wisewarthog.com/electronics/horowitz-hill-the-art-of-electronics-3rd-edition-chapter9.html

But the  links are not direct.
I thus post here  the link to Winfield Hill message

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!searchin/sci.electronics.design/hill$20art/sci.electronics.design/PSTqKWlJ_TM/N1NaFGaZCCgJ

and the direct link to chapter 9 of AOE as posted in Winfield Hill message

Here's a dropbox link.  You can share the link, and the file as well.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/r8gu22ficfac3pz/AoE-III_ch-9_109pgs.pdf?dl=0

[bitwelder]

For the professionals (in electronic field) who already have AoE on their shelf: when/how do you use that book?

[f5r5e5d]

I have only skimmed a borrowed copy - as a experienced analog circuit design engineer I expect I'm no longer a good judge of what a intro book should be  - but I found the slant, some diversions into what I thought were technical irrelevancies jarring given the reputation of the book

I would recommend getting lots of differing views on anything you are trying to learn - books, lectures, app notes

but a few decades of experience can turn you back to a greater appreciation of Uni EE curriculum - "there is nothing so practical as a good theory" takes on more meaning as you gain experience

[JacquesBBB]

For the professionals (in electronic field) who already have AoE on their shelf: when/how do you use that book?

I would say that a good start would be to take the book from the shelf and start reading it.