Customer Reviews

MORE Electronic Gadgets for the Evil Genius: 40 NEW Build-it-Yourself Projects

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Mr. Iannini continues the tradition he began in his first "Electronic Gadgets" book by offering up more than a fair share of laser devices. For this reason alone I don't think it is a good idea for your high schooler to play around with building the devices in this book unsupervised. Then there are the devices such as the "Marx Generator", which is a clever way of charging a number of capacitors in parallel, then discharging them in series. Originally described by E. Marx in 1924, Marx generators are probably the most common way of generating high voltage impulses for testing when the voltage level required is higher than available charging supply voltages. Again, this is another high voltage device which along with the Tesla coil and 400K volt DC generator can be potentially dangerous. The third category of projects that require adult supervision are those that invade the personal space/privacy of others - i.e. adults should always be on hand to explain why it is not OK to nauseate, confuse, and snoop on others for the purpose of learning electronics. The projects are interesting, but the reader/hobbyist should be an adult who is already knowledgeable of electronics and electronic construction techniques. The instructions in this book are not detailed enough for the novice. Also, the price tag on most of the devices is greater than $100, so they are not cheap either. Finally, and most importantly, the reader should have a penchant for safety. Thus if you want to get your teenager interested in electronics via interesting "cool" projects, and you are already knowledgeable yourself and willing to do full-time supervision of the construction, this is probably a good book over which the two of you can both learn and bond. Amazon does not show the table of contents, so I do that here:
Chapter 1: 100 milliwatt green laser pistol
Chapter 2: 50 watt carbon dioxide burning laser
Chapter 3: Visible blue laser ray gun
Chapter 4: Nd-GI/ruby/yag laser
Chapter 5: 20 watt diode laser
Chapter 6: Rail gun
Chapter 7: Magnetic cannon
Chapter 8: High energy radio frequency pistol (HERF)
Chapter 9: Marx generators
Chapter 10: Flux compression generators
Chapter 11: 400,000 volt dc generator
Chapter 12: Six-foot spark Tesla coil
Chapter 13: Microwave gun
Chapter 14: Dog bark controller
Chapter 15: Ultrasonic cleaner
Chapter 16: Electronic ventriloquist
Chapter 17: Ultrasonic hide and seek
Chapter 18: Body heat detector
Chapter 19: Telephone line grabber
Chapter 20: Snooper phone
Chapter 21: FM VOICE transmitter
Chapter 22: FM TELEPHONE transmitter
Chapter 23: Tracking transmitter
Chapter 24: Bug detector
Chapter 25: Sonic nausea
Chapter 26: Therapeutic magnetic pulser
Chapter 27: Mind mangler
Chapter 28: Magic man
Chapter 29: Hypnotizer
Chapter 30: Telekinetic enhancer
Chapter 31: Light of life machine
Chapter 32: Mind controller
Chapter 33: Personal neon display
Chapter 34: Automotive neon
Chapter 35: TV and radio jammer joke

The first Electronic Gadgets for the Evil Genius book had devices that were a bit more sci-fi and cool, but although the information was interesting, not many are going to actually be able to build any of them, as parts will be expensive and hard to find. This second GADGETS book actually has a few circuits that you could actually build with parts that are more available.

As I said in the other reviews on this series of "evil genius" books, be carefull as there are many books in this series, but it is the one that states "GADGETS" in the titles that you want, if you are wanting the circuits that will make you rub your hands together and twist your mustache as you make that sinister laugh.

i was impressed by how well Iannini understood infrared optics and temperature. This guy is very knowledgeable and is out there on the bleeding edge.
No, its not a paint by the dots hobby book by Mr. Rogers Neighborhood! This is an outta da box type book, where he pushes the boundaries of electronic engineering. Perfect for creative inventors.
And he might be pushing you somewhere you didn't expect! ( evil laugh)

Great Product! Tons of great electronic projects with fairly easy to follow instructions. One of the better Evil Genius book. Thanks!

While I have some background in manufacturing and electronics, I found some of the detail explanations way over my head; that said the author did a good job paraphrasing the information into more layman term. I haven't built anything, but the details are easy to follow. My only critique is that the book is not arranged by easy of building, which might have assisted in the progression of the reader from one task to the next.

I bought this book for my fiance. He is really into electronics and he loved it because the book is well set up and explained. Just one problem thought. The book arrived from amazon totally wet and when I tried to contact them the form was returning an error. I was very disappointed because the pages were literally stuck together!

My son being a computer geek asked for this book at xmas when he opened it he was like a little kid again (he is 26 )

;This book sure served the purpose for the Grandsons Christmas present. I live so far away from them, it sure is nice to shop through you and know that it will arrive on time and is just what I ordered. It was greatly appreciated.

Another hit from Bob, put together in the format that is familure to his readders. Very informative.