Electronic Gadgets for the Evil Genius : 28 Build-It-Yourself Projects [Paperback]

Bob Iannini (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0071426094 | ISBN-13: 978-0071426091 | Publication Date: March 12, 2004 | Edition: 1st

The do-it-yourself hobbyist market, particularly in the area of electronics, is hotter than ever. This books gives the “evil genius” loads of projects to delve into, from an ultrasonic microphone, to a body heat detector, and all the way to a Star Wars Light Saber. This book makes creating these devices fun, inexpensive, and easy.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

SHOCK AND AMAZE! INEXPENSIVE PROJECTS YOU CAN BUILD!

INSIDE: PROJECTS THAT TOUCH THE LEADING EDGE OF ELECTRONICS

Electronics fans have waited a long time for this book. Not since 1983 has author Bob Iannini published a collection of his amazing projects -- all of them fun, easy, and inexpensive to make at home and, best of all, seriously exciting and impressive!

Iannini takes the stuff of science fiction and science future and brings it down to size for the home hobbyist. Full of easy-to-follow plans and clear diagrams and schematics, and respectful of your wallet, Electronic Gadgets for the Evil Genius gives you:

* Illustrated instructions and plans for amazing pretested projects advanced enough for sophisticated electronics enthusiasts but described in sufficient detail to be built easily by newcomers
* Explanations of the science and math behind each project (i.e., you can explore different methods of achieving acceleration)
* Frustration-free plans -- needed parts are listed, along with sources -- and most of these projects can be built for $100 or less

WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITH---?
This book equips you with complete plans, instructions, parts lists, and sources for these wonderful projects:
* Infrared viewer
* Object levitation device
* Laser listening system
* Electromagnetic pulse (EMP) generator
* Sonic phaser cannon
* Electromagnetic launcher
* Object projectort
* Traveling plasma wave generator
* Multivortex plasma tornado
* Laser beam cutter
* Ion ray projector
* Several Tesla coil projects
* Pyrotechnic blaster and shock wave pulser
* Lightning bolt generator
* Robotic circuit jamming EMP generator
* Ultrabright green laser
* Working light saber
* Magnetic pulse can crusher
* Mass driver and launcher
* Ultrasonic microphone
* Laser protection project
* Ultrasonic shock projector
* Electric fishing and worming machine

About the Author

Bob Iannini runs Information Unlimited, a firm dedicated to the experimenter and technology enthusiast. Founded in 1974, the company holds many patents, ranging from weapons advances to children's toys. Mr. Iannini's 1983 Build Your Own Laser, Phaser, Ion Ray Gun & Other Working Space-Age Projects, now out of print, remains a popular source for electronics hobbyists.

Product Details

• Paperback: 302 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill/TAB Electronics; 1st edition (March 12, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071426094
• ISBN-13: 978-0071426091
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 8.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #34,511 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

120 of 127 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Overview of Interesting Projects, April 6, 2005

By 

Stuart Gardner "www.sdgardner.com" (Fair Lawn, NJ) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Electronic Gadgets for the Evil Genius : 28 Build-It-Yourself Projects (Paperback)

This book assumes alot. To start with, a back ground in electronic engineering. If you don't have practical real world (or at least laboratory experience), you could get yourself, or worse, someone else, killed.

I wouldn't suggest this as a source book for high school science projects; it's as likely to get you a term of 5 - 10 in a state run facility (not college) as an A grade. Given the current climate, using a high power laser pointer could land you in a fair bit of trouble (the book does point this out). This is also one of the better documented projects.

The other factors that the book does not consider are:
* Budget. These are not low cost projects.
* Time. Plan on doing research outside this book.

From the 28, there is one project I plan to try. Read the contents page before buying - unless there is at least one project you really want to do (and sink time and money into). I would pass. Some of the plans are more like overviews.

139 of 150 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Very misleading, yet fascinating at the same time, February 21, 2005

By 

COSMOS (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Electronic Gadgets for the Evil Genius : 28 Build-It-Yourself Projects (Paperback)

I was intrigued by the types of "gadgets" that could be built with the guidance of the book and decided to pick up a copy and start with the "Laser Window Bounce Listening Device". The most important restrictive factor in building these projects, for me, happened to be the cost of each. Since the book claims on the back cover that "needed parts are listed, along with their sources - and most of these projects can be built for $100 or less." Great, I thought! "$100 or less". Not so! The book is very misleading in this respect. For example, there are a total of 28 different projects to build, of which only 15 are "$100 or less" (many are a few hundred dollars)! The book misleads you further by giving the total price for "basic parts" ONLY or "specialized parts" ONLY!!

Let's add insult to injury by mentioning that the book seems to be an advertising tool for the author's company: Information Unlimited. This is the source for the "specialized parts", such as the "printed circuit boards"...that is, IF you can find the part!

So, getting back to the project I had wanted to build: the "Listening Device". The book says that the project would cost "$100 for BASIC PARTS" (my emphasis). Really? And what about the other parts? The most important parts, such as the "image converter tube" for the "See in the dark" project or "the special prepared plasma tube" for the lightsaber project? Where on the website can I find these among many other "specialized parts"? Asking questions about parts from their company is just as tedious and a waste of time as you will be sent from one phone number to another to get a small piece of information. Not worth it.

So, overall, the book may seem innocent and fun to learn from and exciting in its list of potential projects to build, but if you don't have a lot of throw-away cash AND a lot of throw-away time, especially spent at their advertised company, then I highly advise staying away from this book.

73 of 78 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars One word to describe this book: ripoff!, August 27, 2006

By 

Koen Van Baelen - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Electronic Gadgets for the Evil Genius : 28 Build-It-Yourself Projects (Paperback)

The book claims you can build all projects with standard components. However, every project contains at least one component that can only be ordered on the website of the author! No details about those components is provided to force you to buy it in his shop and make it almost impossible to find it somewhere else. Also, the claim that all projects can be built for less than 100$ is an outright lie! Most projects are very expensive.
I can be very brief about this book. Don't buy it! It's just an advertisement folder for his own company disguised as a book. Besides, every project in it can be found in one form or another on the internet for free.