Book before AoE (art of electronics)

[KTP]

I was just flipping back through Chapter 1 of AoE and I see what you mean.  It starts off simple enough talking about voltage and resistance, then jumps around to tunnel diodes before touching on capacitors, then it slams you with complex number impedance and reactance.  I could see how this could be a bit much for a person who was just starting. 

But if you quit on chapter 1, you don't get to meet "transistor man" in all his glory.

[DJPhil]

But if you quit on chapter 1, you don't get to meet "transistor man" in all his glory.

You'd also miss the long tailed pair!

[Simon]

I was just flipping back through Chapter 1 of AoE and I see what you mean.  It starts off simple enough talking about voltage and resistance, then jumps around to tunnel diodes before touching on capacitors, then it slams you with complex number impedance and reactance.  I could see how this could be a bit much for a person who was just starting. 

But if you quit on chapter 1, you don't get to meet "transistor man" in all his glory.

Yea i noticed that the book made a rather stony start, I think that in trying to make it simple they just made it harder, hec the physics of electricity is not rocket science and if learning it gets you started then that's how it should be explained, if your thinking of doing electronics should should know what an atom is.

[quantumfall]

I used to read books from Bernard Babani publishing.  They do good books to learn from, with simple basic circuit building blocks, a bit like a tandy electronics kit manual.

[FreeThinker]

But if you quit on chapter 1, you don't get to meet "transistor man" in all his glory.

You'd also miss the long tailed pair!

Isn't transistor man in chapter1? Only read the first couple of pages so far but takes me back to my apprentice days and the long nights at tech. Happy days

[orbiter]

Does anyone have the 'Full' AoE as a .pdf they'd be willing to share please? I've got a copy of my own but It's become corrupt & the first few sections are missing

Thanks guys

orb

[djsb]

Something I've mentioned before but here goes again

Lessons in Electric Circuits http://www.ibiblio.org/kuphaldt/electricCircuits/index.htm

All the pdf books can be fitted on a memory stick and are regularly updated/amended.

[alm]

Isn't transistor man in chapter1? Only read the first couple of pages so far but takes me back to my apprentice days and the long nights at tech. Happy days

Nah, transistor man is chapter 2. Chapter 1 starts with some pretty complex stuff for a beginner (including fun like complex math), but at least the transistor is saved for chapter 2 .

Does anyone have the 'Full' AoE as a .pdf they'd be willing to share please? I've got a copy of my own but It's become corrupt & the first few sections are missing

I don't think using this forum for copyright infringement is a good plan if you don't want Dave to get in trouble. Most forums forbid illegal behavior in the forum rules for a reason (don't think this forum has any written rules or policy, except possibly SMF defaults which probably does forbid it).

[FreeThinker]

Isn't transistor man in chapter1? Only read the first couple of pages so far but takes me back to my apprentice days and the long nights at tech. Happy days
[/quote]
Just Checked and Transistor man is indeed in chapter 2.As it says in my avatar easily confused!

[Mechatrommer]

Does anyone have the 'Full' AoE as a .pdf they'd be willing to share please? I've got a copy of my own but It's become corrupt & the first few sections are missing
Thanks guys
orb

if you let your email "NOT hidden", that will be much easier

[Zero999]

Does anyone have the 'Full' AoE as a .pdf they'd be willing to share please? I've got a copy of my own but It's become corrupt & the first few sections are missing
Thanks guys
orb

Check your private messages.

[orbiter]

Much appreciated guys, thanks

if you let your email "NOT hidden", that will be much easier

Thanks shafri but I've got it now

John

[ElektroQuark]

Can I have one of those PM?
Thanks.

[M84AB1]

For me personally, AoE was a bit of a let down. I was expecting more practical examples but instead I got alot of concept and theory. No surprise though after reading in the first chapter that they attempted to create a book that utilizes little to no mathematics (however that is supposed to work!?! no mathematics in an engineering field  ) So keep that in mind. If you are like me and want practical examples with the theory then you are better off going with something like 'Electronics' by Allan R. Hambley. Its great for beginners, covers all the relevant topics and is very easy to read and follow. Moderate mathematics skills are required though. So if maths is not your thing then you are better off with AoE.

[FreeThinker]

When I was training we had to Prove certain Laws.This consisted of pages of squiggles, you never understood(fully) the theory or the proof but learned it (parrot fasion) to pass your Exams.Once passed you never brought it to mind or found a reason to use it, a total waste of time in my experience.The approximation techniques you learn are valid for most cases and prove to be the most useful in the field.As a maintenance tech design is not my forte but I need to understand and often "bodge" to effect a repair, this is were the true learning come in and exposes the different mind sets between design and function.

[SuperMiguel]

Something I've mentioned before but here goes again

Lessons in Electric Circuits http://www.ibiblio.org/kuphaldt/electricCircuits/index.htm

All the pdf books can be fitted on a memory stick and are regularly updated/amended.

are those books any good? they seem to be a bit outdated

[djsb]

The basic principles never go out of date. The books are open and a collaboratively developed text as stated so any mistakes are corrected as they are found. The AoE hasn't been updated in a while and takes up a lot of space on a bookshelf (or in a bag). I've no vested interest in mentioning the books. Just thought I'd share with the forum.

David.

P.S I have a copy of the AoE and it's still nice to read from a real book.

[orbiter]

I have the AoE on .pdf but have just received the 'real' book too. It's great just being able to grab the book for reference when your fiddling around with your projects.

[Mechatrommer]

I have the AoE on .pdf but have just received the 'real' book too. It's great just being able to grab the book for reference when your fiddling around with your projects.

most importantly, i can just make 3-4 bookmarks with my fingers and flip to each of them very very quickly! and no eye sore due to light emitted by lcd + Hz refresh rate. When i design thing like Kindle next time.... i'll include this kind of feature.

[Markybhoy]

SuperMiguel this book is aimed at beginners,  just picked it up myself to start learning -

http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596153755

[SuperMiguel]

the thing i hate about those kind of books is, that they tell you to use a 1k resistor, and a 100 nf capacitor, etc but they dont tell you why you need those specific values, and they dont teach the way you calculate those values.

[Markybhoy]

You can read a sample of the book I mentioned here -

http://cdn.makezine.com/make/shed/make_electronics_1.pdf

[Zad]

I like the way they tell you how to take a potentiometer apart. That's the true engineering way of understanding things from the inside. I'm impressed!