The Art of Electronics 3rd edition finished writing and copy-editing

[solarmist]

I've done indices before, albeit on much smaller documents.  Definitely the kind of thing that you should be thinking about as you're writing, rewriting and checking your paragraphs.  And that's in a medium which supports references and hyperlinking (LaTeX).

Tim

Yup, that's exactly what I meant by expect some of it to be done already, honestly I'd expect most with just some expansion for alternative phrasings of things.

Thanks for checking.

NP.  I figure he'd rather hear rarely from a single person rather than often from many people.

[nowlan]

Too bad he hasn't heard of safari rough cuts. Can publish finished chapters, get feedback before final press.

[neslekkim]

Too bad he hasn't heard of safari rough cuts. Can publish finished chapters, get feedback before final press.

Maybe it's lot of work?

But an ebook version would be nice, 2nd ed is nothing you drag around with you..

[iz4afl]

Good news: Amazon.ca is now accepting pre-orders for the 3rd edition.
Bad news: it seems it is going to be published in one year: 30.October 2015!
check here:
http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/0521809266/ref=pe_11530_125040350_emwa_email_title_1

[Macbeth]

Good news: Amazon.ca is now accepting pre-orders for the 3rd edition.
Bad news: it seems it is going to be published in one year: 30.October 2015!
check here:
http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/0521809266/ref=pe_11530_125040350_emwa_email_title_1

Darn. I've been looking forward to this edition. I guess I can wait a year.

[solarmist]

Good news: Amazon.ca is now accepting pre-orders for the 3rd edition.
Bad news: it seems it is going to be published in one year: 30.October 2015!
check here:
http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/0521809266/ref=pe_11530_125040350_emwa_email_title_1

Ha! Amazon keeps doing that and dropping it.  If the authors don't have a publish date Amazon's not gonna have a clue.

That said I've been touching base with Winfield every six months to a year.

Hi Mr. Hill,

I was just thinking it'd be nice to get the new edition for Christmas
and thought I'd send an email to see if that was realistic. Any chance
of seeing this on shelves this year? Or is page layout, indexing and
galley proofing still in process?  Or have I complete messed up how
long things take in publishing a book this size?

 Tell me about it!  Right now we're going through the
 book fixing errors.  We're still few weeks away from
 starting on the indexing, after that comes the page
 layout and then the galleys to inspect.

 They're telling us it may be on the streets by spring.

This is the first time he's mentioned an actual publish date coming back from the publishers, so that's good news, but he's been very optimistic every time I've talked to him, so I'd expect closer to summer or maybe even the fall date Amazon guessed at, but we're down to only three items left on the check list: Indexing, Layout and Proofing.  So I do think next fall is likely an upper limit on the work left. 

That said the last six months have been spent almost exclusively on fixing errors, so I certainly can't be confident in any predictions. 
Indexing is a large difficult project, but probably not the size of editing and fixing error in the entire volume, so my guess is probably around 3 months or so.
Layout isn't huge deal normally, but this is a huge project so I'd expect it to take as long as indexing.  If the authors aren't doing this themselves then it can be done concurrently with indexing. This article says it takes about a month to layout a normal book. http://www.stevenpressfield.com/2012/10/why-it-takes-so-long-to-publish-a-book/. So maybe another three months for this tome.
Galley Proofs are the final approval of pages and last minute typo catches, so I'd expect another month or so.
Finally they have to do the actual print run and plan a release.  I really hope they just push this through and do it in like a month to get it out.

That puts it at around 5-9 months of additional work left.

[iz4afl]

Finally some hint from the publisher:

http://www.cambridge.org/at/academic/subjects/physics/electronics-physicists/art-electronics-3rd-edition

[lapm]

Finally some hint from the publisher:

http://www.cambridge.org/at/academic/subjects/physics/electronics-physicists/art-electronics-3rd-edition

Now thats a good news... Its fast turning from unobtainium to something real... I do hope they will publish ebook version also.. If they do i will probably buy both, electronic and paper...

[lpc32]

"Planned for August 2015".

[DarkLight]

"Jun 30 2015"!!!

[Macbeth]

Oddly, it's available April 30th on amazon.com, and two months later, June 29th on amazon.co.uk. Considering it's published by Cambridge University Press I would have thought the UK would be the first market.

At least it's available for £46.13 in the UK vs $108.00 in the USA, which is also a strange turn of events. Publishers usually have a rip off exchange rate of $1 = £1 in my experience.

I think I'll get my UK pre-order in before amazon change their mind! 

[ElektroQuark]

I have just preordered mine.
Amazon.es doesn't list it.

[tggzzz]

According to the publishers (CUP), the hardback will be £60 and it is not available until June. The hardback 2nd edition is £80
http://www.cambridge.org/gb/academic/subjects/physics/electronics-physicists/art-electronics-3rd-edition?format=HB

[elgonzo]

According to the publishers (CUP), the hardback will be £60 and it is not available until June. The hardback 2nd edition is £80
http://www.cambridge.org/gb/academic/subjects/physics/electronics-physicists/art-electronics-3rd-edition?format=HB

Good to see UK price confirmation from the publisher. It's a bit higher than the pre-order price on amazon.co.uk (which makes it look like mispricing), but even without amazon.co.uk's discount it is still a pretty penny cheaper than the price asked in other countries...

[edy]

Does anyone have any idea if there will be a big difference in the 3rd edition compared to the 2nd edition? For example, will it be easier to understand for a beginner? I'm just starting on the 2nd edition which is quite old (1989?) but I'm sure very useful. However, I am wondering if I should wait to get the 3rd if it will make the concepts easier to understand or if the 2nd edition is sufficient.

Any thoughts? I am not keen on waiting so I think I will read the 2nd edition anyways, unless I know the 3rd is around the corner which is hard to predict. I see it listed here but not yet available:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Electronics-Paul-Horowitz/dp/product-description/0521809266/ref=dp_proddesc_0?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books

[EEVblog]

However, I am wondering if I should wait to get the 3rd if it will make the concepts easier to understand or if the 2nd edition is sufficient.

The 2nd will have stuff the 3rd won't, so you'll still need it as a resource.
As for how much easier, I think it will be pretty much the same, just covering newer and more stuff.

[Tandy]

I wouldn't class it as a beginners title, while it is not that maths heavy it does take a certain amount of existing understanding of the subject to follow it.

[edy]

Thanks for the quick reply. I will start then on the 2nd edition and brush up on the topics as I encounter each one by one. I see it is quite widely available and relatively inexpensive for such a large volume. Provided the 3rd won't really be any easier to understand, there will be no advantage to waiting.

I've also recently subscribed to Colin Mitchell's Talking Electronics site (thanks to Dave for reviewing it in a recent Mailbag) so I am running through his material and waiting for the kit to arrive from Australia (not Austria!). Can't wait to see what I get and build something!

[Tandy]

Personally I think Colin Mitchell's Talking Electronics approach is much better for beginners. It just seems to be easier for most people to learn by building simple example circuits and figuring out how and why they work. Then later delve deeper into the theory behind them. Learning electronics starting with the theory first I think is a lot harder.

the one exception is learning ohms law is something worth doing from the outset.

[tggzzz]

Personally I think Colin Mitchell's Talking Electronics approach is much better for beginners. It just seems to be easier for most people to learn by building simple example circuits and figuring out how and why they work. Then later delve deeper into the theory behind them. Learning electronics starting with the theory first I think is a lot harder.

the one exception is learning ohms law is something worth doing from the outset.

If you only aspire to be a tinkerer, and there's nothing wrong with that, then I think your approach isn't wrong. But if you aspire to being an innovative engineer that can make circuits "right first time", then it is highly beneficial to iterate between theory and practice from day one.

Concentrating solely on the practical without understanding the theory (including the theory of messy practical components) leads to frustration and random tinkering in the vain hope of improving a circuit. That's fine if you want to demonstrate darwinian evolution, but not if you have limited time and patience!

[edy]

I'm just getting through the first chapter and trying to intuitively understand differentiators and integrators. Thevevin equivalent circuits I take at face value having not done the math yet. But using RC circuits and flipping the position of the R and C and why it behaves the way it does I am still working to grasp. I am thinking when C is connected to ground, it essentially allows the one side of the cap to charge which keeps building up or integrating the source. When the C is flipped with the R (which is now downstream of the cap and draining it to ground) the C acts like a filter allowing high frequency edges like in a square wave to make it through while low ones don't. So the faster the rate of change on the signal the more voltage the signal gets. I hope I am understanding this correctly. You are right, it is a great book and very dense with fundamentals which I need to know in addition to tinkering.

[tggzzz]

I'm just getting through the first chapter and trying to intuitively understand differentiators and integrators. Thevevin equivalent circuits I take at face value having not done the math yet. But using RC circuits and flipping the position of the R and C and why it behaves the way it does I am still working to grasp. I am thinking when C is connected to ground, it essentially allows the one side of the cap to charge which keeps building up or integrating the source. When the C is flipped with the R (which is now downstream of the cap and draining it to ground) the C acts like a filter allowing high frequency edges like in a square wave to make it through while low ones don't. So the faster the rate of change on the signal the more voltage the signal gets. I hope I am understanding this correctly. You are right, it is a great book and very dense with fundamentals which I need to know in addition to tinkering.

Look at the maths, then all will become clear. That's the real advantage of "theory" - it enables you to visualise new and different possibilites.

[solarmist]

Does anyone have any idea if there will be a big difference in the 3rd edition compared to the 2nd edition? For example, will it be easier to understand for a beginner? I'm just starting on the 2nd edition which is quite old (1989?) but I'm sure very useful. However, I am wondering if I should wait to get the 3rd if it will make the concepts easier to understand or if the 2nd edition is sufficient.

Any thoughts? I am not keen on waiting so I think I will read the 2nd edition anyways, unless I know the 3rd is around the corner which is hard to predict. I see it listed here but not yet available:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Electronics-Paul-Horowitz/dp/product-description/0521809266/ref=dp_proddesc_0?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books

I've talked to the author a few times and although this is a new edition it seems like it's almost volume 2 rather than 3rd edition.  I.e. there's going to be a significant amount of material that's covered in 2nd and not in 3rd and visa-versa.  He's specifically mentioned that you're going to want to have a copy of 2 ed. along with 3 ed.

[coppice]

Oddly, it's available April 30th on amazon.com, and two months later, June 29th on amazon.co.uk. Considering it's published by Cambridge University Press I would have thought the UK would be the first market.

If they are producing a proper UK version it will require translation from US English. Maybe that's where the delay comes from.

[Coliban]

I just pre-ordered the AOE, 3rd edition on amazon.de.

Although i have already many books about electronics fundamentals, i think, it would do no harm, if i get an aggregation on electronics and practices and a good reference, and, besides of that, i love encyclopedic-like publications, where i can imagine to have a concise book, which covers broad fundamentals. (It´s the same with "The art of programming", although i´ve never worked a lot with this edition (or the "Brockhaus" in 23 volumes)). I know, that i have to get rid of "outdated" books to release space in the shelf.

Thank you solarmist for the correspondence with the author and the information.

regards