I can't believe the ridiculously high price they expect for this book. I bought the second edition about 6 or 7 years ago. In no way was it worth the price I paid. This 3rd edition is 50% more expensive than what I paid for the last one. Can you guess if I will waste my money again?
@rdl
I wish also it were less expensive, but most of the hardcover university books are expensive, in contrast to some of the books more aimed towards a general audience like "Practical electronics for inventors" which you can get for 23.5$.
The second edition of AOE is listed 130.7 $ at amazon.com which is larger than
the third edition at 110 $ . The increase that you mention probably just reflects the general increase of living, or maybe you did not get the
original hardcover edition (I got an Indian edition at a very low price).
If you look to the list of University recent hardcover books in electronics, ranked by "new and popular" on amazon.com, you find in the first ranks.
200$ :Electric Circuits (10th Edition)Jan 19, 2014 by James W. Nilsson and Susan Riedel
89.41$ :Signal and Power Integrity - Simplified (2nd Edition)Jul 27, 2009 by Eric Bogatin
163.74$ : Electronics Fundamentals: Circuits, Devices & Applications (8th Edition)Jul 3, 2009 by Thomas L. Floyd and David M. Buchla
185.74$ : Microelectronic Circuits (Oxford Series in Electrical & Comp. Eng.)Dec 15, 2009 by Adel S. Sedra and Kenneth C. Smith
You can wait for a cheaper softcover edition, but if you did not take any benefit from the second edition, there
is probably very little chance you will find the third edition useful.
It still kills me thinking about the fact that I sold my copy of the 1st edition for pennies at a garage sale 20 years ago. I'd bought it for an electronics course in 1984 during my brief foray into learning electronics while studying electrophysiology as an undergraduate biology major.
I have the Indian paperback 2nd edition and the PDF.
Looking forward to my 3rd edition which is marked as "dispatched" by the Book Depository in the UK.
The photo is all the endorsement anyone should need. I bought it.
Right action, but for the wrong reason Avoid personality cults!
This entire forum is a "personality cult" just not your personality
no worry, Bob's your uncle, it's still the duck's guts.
I bought the companion lab manual a few months back from the last edition and after poking around it I knew I had to have AOE.
At 63yrs I have been reading electronics materials for over 50yrs including the US Navy's schooling materials from the 60's and 70's.
No other tome in my limited experience comes close to the substance covered or the method of delivery. The ability to convey information without the need to
bury the reader in math and formulas sets this apart from all the rest.
Dave Jones delivery style is unique and very effective. His endorsement implies a similar effectiveness. The implication is accurate.
I ordered from Waterstones in UK on Friday, got an "out of stock" email on Monday and a "despatched" email today.
The photo is all the endorsement anyone should need. I bought it.
Right action, but for the wrong reason Avoid personality cults!
This entire forum is a "personality cult" just not your personality no worry, Bob's your uncle, it's still the duck's guts.
I bought the companion lab manual a few months back from the last edition and after poking around it I knew I had to have AOE.
At 63yrs I have been reading electronics materials for over 50yrs including the US Navy's schooling materials from the 60's and 70's.
No other tome in my limited experience comes close to the substance covered or the method of delivery. The ability to convey information without the need to
bury the reader in math and formulas sets this apart from all the rest.
I've been recommending the book to others since the mid 80s, so clearly I agree
Dave Jones delivery style is unique and very effective. His endorsement implies a similar effectiveness. The implication is accurate.
Fortunately his style lacks all pomposity, to the point of being humourous. If it wasn't it would be intolerable.
But I
still hate "personality cults", or anything else which has the appearance of "proof by reference to personal authority"!
Couldn't agree more. If you think these EE personality cults are bad, you want to look at the open source software culture.
One should always trust multiple sources and ignore Amazon reviews (I'm sure that reviewer eggboy65503 hasn't read 990 books in his time). No book is worthy of worship independently.
Now for a contrarian POV. I worked in the defense electronics industry (the big R) for a total of six months back in 1997 before I got lured into writing software (less responsibility for killing people). Now there were hundreds of EEs there and not once was I recommended TAOE nor saw a copy in the labs. Knowledge flowed freely not through books and references but on paper and time spent in the cafe. The only things I was recommended was Calculus For The Practical Man (1946!) and get a TI85 as it does determinants on arbitrary matrix sizes unlike shoddy Casio tech, it was faster than a pencil and you could write games on it.
I have a copy of TAOE 2nd edition on my shelf which is barely used. 300 pages are next to useless and the rest unnecessarily verbose as a reference and tutorial.
I'll buy the 3rd edition out of interest as those 300 pages should then be up to date for about 5 years. However I'll wait for the 'international edition' to appear like I did last time and get my good Indian friend to post me a copy from there. (Yes they price fix books and provide 'affordable' editions for other countries). The paperback is easier to handle as well
I'll probably be flamed off the forum now much as if I'd insulted a religious text.
I would tend to agree slightly. I found the second edition not as great as everyone said it was, maybe i know more than I know (better than not knowing what I don't know). To be honest with the availability of the internet my copy has just sat on the shelf. But i have ordered the 3rd edition just to see if i can prove me wrong. I find american writers annoying anyway, some forget they are writing information books and seem to think that cracking stupid jokes every page was the primary reason for the book.
I have a copy of TAOE 2nd edition on my shelf which is barely used. 300 pages are next to useless and the rest unnecessarily verbose as a reference and tutorial.
How useful is it for a non-EE?
Someone who knows NOTHING about electronics. Can they get a basic foundation from which to explore deeper into specific topics?
Yes but how useful is it for a non-EE?
Someone who know NOTHING about electronics. Can they get a basic foundation from which to explore deeper into specific topics?
Very useful as long as you have basic math (at least through algebra) skills and some understanding of basic physics (electromagnetism).
I am not an EE and find it very useful.
I'm pretty sure the 2nd Edition I bought was "used, like new". I paid close to $80 for it. The biggest problem I saw was that a lot of the content was out-dated by time I bought it, and large parts of what remained are not that useful for beginners. It's not that the book was bad, or totally useless, I just didn't see it as a good value. I'd like to have a copy of the new 3rd Edition because I know it will at least be up to date, but at the moment I think there are much more productive and informative ways to spend $100.
My copy turned up from cambridge universitry press yesterday. I've not read a word of it yet but looks more proffessional, more images, graphs so hopefully a worthwhile read if my HNC course does not turn up first.
I'm pretty sure the 2nd Edition I bought was "used, like new". The biggest problem I saw was that a lot of the content was out-dated by time I bought it, and large parts of what remained are not that useful for beginners.
Strange. I still refer to my first edition. The fundamentals are unchanged, and TAoE excelled at outlining a high-level view of a topic, plus giving sufficient detail to enable the reader to start
profitably exploring and elaborating.
To use opamps as an example, the "good circuits" and "bad circuits" are still good and bad, even if the opamps have changed (and many haven't!). If I want to choose an opamp or detailed information about how to use a specific opamp, there's plenty of that available on the web.
How useful is it for a non-EE?
Someone who knows NOTHING about electronics. Can they get a basic foundation from which to explore deeper into specific topics?
You can look back to my post #17 above.
If you know nothing about electronics, the step will be quite steep. The book content is dense, so you will benefit more if you are already somewhat familiar with electronics. On the other hand, it is a book that can be read. It is not a dull academic book aimed for the selection of students on technical exercises. Mathematical expressions are reduced to a minimum. It is also a book that aim to transmit a know-how.
TO get an idea of the book, the best thing is to download the chapter 9 that is available for free at
Copyright content removed.It has been largely written with respect to edition 2 and has a better introductory section. It a a long 100 page chapter on power supplies and power regulation that is somewhat self contained.
hopefully a worthwhile read if my HNC course does not turn up first.
What does "HNC course" means ?
hopefully a worthwhile read if my HNC course does not turn up first.
What does "HNC course" means ?
Higher National Certificate which in my case will be in electronics, it's level 5 out of 8 and after 8 you go for a degree at university
How useful is it for a non-EE?
Someone who knows NOTHING about electronics. Can they get a basic foundation from which to explore deeper into specific topics?
You can look back to my post #17 above.
If you know nothing about electronics, the step will be quite steep. The book content is dense, so you will benefit more if you are already somewhat familiar with electronics. On the other hand, it is a book that can be read. It is not a dull academic book aimed for the selection of students on technical exercises. Mathematical expressions are reduced to a minimum. It is also a book that aim to transmit a know-how.
TO get an idea of the book, the best thing is to download the chapter 9 that is available for free at
Copyright content removed.
It has been largely written with respect to edition 2 and has a better introductory section. It a a long 100 page chapter on power supplies and power regulation that is somewhat self contained.
That's several orders of magnitude more useful than 2e based on that chapter sample. Despite prejudices against the book and suspect longevity of information I will purchase it based on the utility of that chapter alone (as I'm currently designing a LDO reg based supply).
To the moderator :
You have suppressed the link below,
TO get an idea of the book, the best thing is to download the chapter 9 that is available for free at
Copyright content removed.
It has been largely written with respect to edition 2 and has a better introductory section. It a a long 100 page chapter on power supplies and power regulation that is somewhat self contained.
but in his message linked below, Winfield Hill explictely state that the link to chapter 9 that he provides
can be shared. This is all what I did. Please tell us if Winfield Hill is wrong.
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.
To the moderator :
You have suppressed the link below,
TO get an idea of the book, the best thing is to download the chapter 9 that is available for free at
Copyright content removed.
It has been largely written with respect to edition 2 and has a better introductory section. It a a long 100 page chapter on power supplies and power regulation that is somewhat self contained.
but in his message linked below, Winfield Hill explictely state that the link to chapter 9 that he provides
can be shared. This is all what I did. Please tell us if Winfield Hill is wrong.
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.
Thank you for clarifying. It is wise to post such credentials in the first place as otherwise the correct judgement is that it's breech of copyright.
Thank you for clarifying. It is wise to post such credentials in the first place as otherwise the correct judgement is that it's breech of copyright.
OK, but as I already mentioned it with all credential in my previous " Reply #21" message in this same thread, I did not think I should have repeated it extensively. Now I will be more cautious, as I understand that you cannot go back always in the full thread.
yes please keep clarifications and material links together it makes life so much easier especially for people like me who struggle to remember stuff.
hopefully a worthwhile read if my HNC course does not turn up first.
What does "HNC course" means ?
Higher National Certificate. This is traditionally in the same area as an apprenticeship for a technician level job. Traditionally a university degree lead to an engineering level job.
For the past 25 years that distinction has been deliberately obfuscated mainly due to academic snobbery that a "Polytechnic" was inferior to a "University". That's a crying shame because the academic rigor required to become an engineer doesn't suit everybody - some are better suited to a more practical course. In reality in real life
both are valuable and are necessary - and it is a shame that snobbery has disguised that.
hopefully a worthwhile read if my HNC course does not turn up first.
What does "HNC course" means ?
Higher National Certificate. This is traditionally in the same area as an apprenticeship for a technician level job. Traditionally a university degree lead to an engineering level job.
For the past 25 years that distinction has been deliberately obfuscated mainly due to academic snobbery that a "Polytechnic" was inferior to a "University". That's a crying shame because the academic rigor required to become an engineer doesn't suit everybody - some are better suited to a more practical course. In reality in real life both are valuable and are necessary - and it is a shame that snobbery has disguised that.
Well in my case it's a case of I'm pretty good at this shit so my employer wants me to be qualified. They are not able to teach me anything as I'm the one with the highest level of knowledge due to practical experience and my employer being mechanical orientated but this is the only option open as I am in work already and can study this from home. I tend to learn a lot from trying to solve a problem and getting over the new hurdles, often with the help of this forum.
I have had to deal with a subcontractor in the past who supposedly had employees with post graduate degrees but could not "reason" very well and there produced poor results. Studying and passing in exams or by assignments does not make you competent / clever you have to have a passion for it and interest, if you do it just to earn money you won't be very good generally.