29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A fine hands-on supplement, June 4, 2008
This review is from: Electronic Circuits for the Evil Genius: 57 Lessons with Projects (Paperback)
I just finished reading this book cover to cover. I also read most of the reviews here.
First off, let me say that the points made by the 1 and 2 star reviews are correct. The style of the book is a little disorganized, the format is borderline awful, and it does look like something printed 20 years ago. The title might be misleading in that this is a very basic introduction to electronics book, and certainly not for Genius level anything.
After the first couple of chapters, all of the above negative points had me rather angry. Why I kept reading, I don't know, but I did, and I ended up being pleasantly surprised. This is the first book I've encountered that presented electronic components and concepts in an applied, hands-on manner. My background is in physics, so I've learned something about the theory of electronics, and have studied transistors and op amps, but never knew what the darn things were used to do. For me, this book helped me connect the dots to actually understand the application of principles.
I want to point out this books strong suit - it walks the reader through the design of the circuits presented, not just the final schematic. You can see the thought process that goes into choosing components, and how you add stages to a circuit to produce the overall desired result. For the beginner, this is critical. For example, I've seen many schematic diagrams that don't call out ground connections, or explain why certain parts of the circuit are wired to ground. To be able to design your own circuits, this is a critical piece of understanding. Advanced books assume you know it, and beginning books seem to assume you don't care.
Am I qualified to design any functional circuit for myself now? No. But I do feel like I have the understanding to play with some ICs, and figure out what kinds of stages need to be added to produce the gizmos I want. (Incidentally, my desire to learn electronics stems from my hobby of building backyard haunted houses, and wanting to have some automation and animatronics)
I was going to give this book 4 stars (was going to ding one star for the format), but after reading the others' criticisms, I find myself agreeing with their knocks on the book. Still, I have to say, having read several other books on electronics (including some of Horowitz and Hill) this was the book that finally lifted the veil for me and helped me understand the hows and whys of electronics - I plan on giving the book a thorough reread. So as a supplement to a text that give a little more theory, or for a practical hands-on first time exposure to electronics, I highly recommend this book to the beginning student or hobbyist.
Update (Dec. 2010) - I originally wrote this review over two years ago and I've been steadily learning more and more about electronics. I can honestly reaffirm that this book was the one that really got me over the curve to understanding how circuits are designed and why particular components are added. It does not stand alone as a complete reference on building circuits and making your own electronic gizmos, but as a practical, hands-on, "this is how you make a circuit" guide, I've yet to find better. This book has a valuable place on the road to making your own circuits to do whatever you dream of having them do.
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31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Horribly written and illustrated, February 4, 2006
This review is from: Electronic Circuits for the Evil Genius: 57 Lessons with Projects (Paperback)
This book sounded ideal, a beginner's book with clear explanations and projects to illustrate the electronics concepts taught in each chapter. The introduction lauds Mr. Cutcher's skill as a teacher so highly I was really anticipating a wonderful tour through the basics of electronics.
Mr. Cutcher may indeed be a great teacher, but he is a very poor writer. His writing is disorganized and confusing, his instructions are unclear and sometimes incomplete, and he works so hard to fit everything into his "electric circuits are like water" analogy that he forces it when he should find a better way to describe it.
Lastly, many of the illustrations in this book are so atrocious that often the reader has no idea what they are supposed to represent. In this age there is no excuse for graphics that look like they were produced by a six-year-old on a Colecovision. I am astonished that this book was deemed ready for publication. Are there no editors in this segment?
I am very disappointed in this book. A good beginner's book is a wonderful thing to find, and this isn't it. I cannot recommend this book to anyone interested in learning electronics; it will be especially difficult for young people who don't have the focus to follow poorly-written or confusing material. I would especially worry that young people would not recognize the faults of the book and come away feeling that electronics is "too hard" for them because they couldn't follow Mr. Cutcher's explanations.
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41 of 44 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Very disappointed, March 10, 2006
This review is from: Electronic Circuits for the Evil Genius: 57 Lessons with Projects (Paperback)
I have read most of the books in this series and they all suffer from the same problems. They are full of errors that could have been corrected before release if the publisher hired a proofreader. This book is especially frustrating with poor graphics, charts, and tables. You can find some corrections to the text if you search the web. Do not purchase components from the source listed in the book (they are extremely overpriced).
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