Customer Reviews

Electronics For Dummies

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Ok, so I've been looking for an electronics book that explains electronics in a way that I can understand. Not in technical terms, but in real understandable terms. Even simple concepts like a resister can become confusing for the beginner, with the way most electronics books are written... let alone tackling a concept like a transistor -- forget it. This book is unlike any other I have looked at or read. It speaks about everything in a way that seems so simple, you wonder "how could this have been complex to me?" I have to say, this author has done an astounding job of taking abstract concepts and making them real, to the point you are confident you have a solid and complete understanding. This book makes no claim to take you to the depths that a comprehensive textbook will (such as The Art of Electronics -- which this book recommends -- read bottom of page 154). However, this book does provide a solid footing, so when you pick up an advanced book, you feel in control. Things make sense. Even the things you thought you understood take on a more solid feel as you reread the sections. For the Electronics Engineering student (me), this book can make appearingly complicated and challenging subjects suddenly simple. For the complete rookie of electronics, this book will get you on your feet in no time.

If you really want to be convinced, I recommend you take full advantage of the "Search inside this book" feature here on Amazon, and search any topic that is daunting to you. This book will make feel at ease. It's so easy to read it is like a novel. I read about two hours straight the first time I picked it up and didn't even notice how long I had been at it. If you are turned off by the Dummies style, and think this book will be silly, think again. The author has written many other books (not in the Dummies series) including a robotics book that is considered a "must-have" for all robotics enthusiasts since the books first publish in 1987. This author has a lot of practical experience, which he shares as he goes along. He is by no means an inexperienced beginner, nor a nerdy scientist, and writes with a style that is appealing to both the technically inclined and the rank first-timer. This style is refreshing, no bs, and provides for pleasant easy reading.

Also worth a note, this Electronics book is brand new and in it's first edition. It is copyrighted 2005 inside the cover. Everything is very very current and up to date. This is no small tome, at 432 pages it includes coverage of practical subjects including how to etch your own boards, microcontroller programming, and many sample projects. And for this price, you can't miss!! This is a great book to accompany a more advanced book, such as The Art of Electronics. This book introduces you to the subject of electronics as a whole -- without making it intimidating. It is unlike any other I have found, and I have looked and looked.

I hope this review helps in your buying decision.

It is hard for me to totally pan this book, since I believe its main failing is that its title is misleading. It would better target its audience if it was named "Hobbyist Electronics for Dummies" or maybe "Electronic Construction for Dummies". If you are an engineering student, however, you could no more find what you need from this book than a student of computational robotics could find what they need in "10 Cool LEGO Mindstorms Robotics Invention System 2 Projects". If you are a hobbyist or a technician who just needs to know basic electronics safety and circuit construction techniques without needing to know what exactly it is that you are building, this is a very good book for that target audience. The book is well written, well organized and clear. If you are an engineer or an engineering student and you are looking for a reference book on the theory and practice of electronics, instead might I recommend "The Art of Electronics" by Horowitz. It contains tutorials on everything from basic circuit analysis to microprocessors to high-speed and high-frequency techniques. If you are a hobbyist or technician, you might want to check out the excellent "Teach Yourself Electricity and Electronics" by Gibilisco. It will give you an idea of what exactly it is that those components you are soldering together actually do in a very accessible and readable style with no background in advanced mathematics being necessary.

This is the perfect book for gaining an understanding of the basics and the buzz words of today's electronic world. It covers everything from the how and why of electronic components (parts) and circuits (parts connected together to perform a desired result) to symbols, schematic reading, meter and oscilloscope use, tools, and more. Did you know that a choke, coil, and inductor are all the same physical component and why it's referred to with 3 different names? "Electronics for Dummies" is a book less on theory and more on practical. It includes breadboarding, creating projects and printed circuit boards--from 30-minute projects to a basic microcontrolled robot--all clearly explained and easily understood. After finishing this book, you won't be a rocket scientist, but you certainly will have a basic understanding of electronics--enough to gain a confidence for further study or enough to be an informed component in today's world of circuits.

Perhaps it'll help if I shortly give you an overview of my background.

I am an IT guy. The interesting thing about that is, that here in Switzerland, electronics fundamentals were a part of my education. We didn't go deep, but I know what resistors, capacitors and diodes are. I know what they're used for and what they do.

What I was looking for in a book was a refresher of the fundamentals plus a kick-start to building my own stuff.

This said, what I can say about this book is that it provided the former in a nicely presented way but completely lacks the latter. The book is well written and doesn't get too boring but the problem is it suddenly ends there.

The offered do-it-yourself-projects in the book are merely provided schematics for you to copy. They do not explain why they connect the timer IC the way they do. They just expect you to put the parts together and be happy about the flashing lights.


So what I don't like isn't particularly what the book contains but the description of its scope. As others who have left a review, I had expected a tad more from this book. I had expected to be presented a schematic and receive an explanation as to why the problem was solved the way it was.

Overall, I did not like this book, but that doesn't mean that there aren't those to whom it might be helpful. Certainly some of the other reviewers found it helpful, so if you're convinced that you'll never be able to do anything with electronics at all, or you've found all other books to be confusing from the first, then maybe start here. Or if you just want to know how to read, but not analyze or understand, a schematic and how to solder, this book is a good choice. If you're pretty self-confident and want to actually understand how circuits work, then you probably won't find this book helpful. I was looking for something that would teach me to understand the workings of simple circuits and, ultimately, to get me on my way towards designing and altering existing ones. The author did a good job of introducing the basic concepts behind common electrical components. Certainly, I hadn't known what a piezoelectric was, that an LED was a semiconductor, or even what a semiconductor was. I did know Ohm's Law and found his coverage of it cursory, especially since he never gave any reason to use it. Those who don't like algebra will be able to skip his explanation and just use the formulas he's derived -- although, again, he doesn't actually provide any reason to ever use the formulas. His introduction to electronic components was well done. Aside from one or two isolated examples, however, rather than explaining to you how those components might be used and the principles behind their use in circuits, he instead proceeded to give you instructions on how to make very specific gadgets. While you could build those gadgets as per his instructions, the book didn't provide the means to understand how the more interesting of them functioned. At best, these projects might give you some soldering practice and probably the ability to put together pre-designed kits from schematics, but not the means to actually understand the workings of any circuit more complicated than simple series or parallel lightbulbs. If you know absolutely nothing about electricity, then this book might be helpful, but if you've even taken college physics, look elsewhere first. I would recommend considering another book or a searching for an online electronics tutorial. Backtrack to this book only if:
1. you find another book geared towards beginners to be too difficult.
2. you find the qualitative descriptions of the components in another book confusing.
3. you can't decide what type of solder or soldering iron you should get.
In cases such as those, this book might be helpful, but probably not otherwise.

being a student in a high school electronics class, i have a basic understanding of this subject, but needed this book as a study aid for my exams.

PROS-->

1.) Like any other "_____ For DUMMIES" book this resourceful book is easy-to-read, very useful to beginners, and is better than listening to a teacher lecture for 90 minutes.

2.) Categorized into 18 different chapters, which are organized enough for me to understand the basics of each topic.

3.) Provides about 3 chapters for specific projects (ranging from easy to hard) that you can test your skills with.

4.) A useful glossary that you can use for your classes or looking up mis-understood words in the text of the book.

5.) AWESOME easy-to-read , easy-to-understand diagrams.

CONS-->

1.) REMEMBER: This is another "FOR DUMMIES" book so it will NOT give any subject in depth, use this book ONLY if you are some kind of beginner who needs help in the topic.

2.) The first chapter is very general and doesn't give most readers a strong foundation to start learning more in-depth topics of electronics such as schematic diagrams.

3.) The book is organized in a peculiar way; if you don't understand the basics, then when you get into the middle of the book into harder topics than you'll be stuck and constantly be looking back and forth to understand everything. HINT: (To save yourself some future hassle, Get your basics down before you start any other chapter in the book)

CONCLUSION:

Besides the fact that I thought the book was not organized the way I would've liked it to have been, you might think different. Other than that remember if you're buying this book for a beginner's guide or as a study guide for a beginner's class than I HIGHLY advise you to buy this book.

I truly am the target audience for this book - a novice.
The problem with this book - the author is not thinking of the beginner. He jumps in and starts refering to components before explaining what each component is.
You don't teach reading before you teach the alphabet.
Sometimes a book needs to be edited by a novice and not an expert.

I've played around with gadgets for a while, but I wanted to get more serious about learning electronics. This book was just what I needed. It makes concepts simple to understand with clear explanations, while giving practical advice about things like safety, stocking your electronics workbench, and soldering. With a relaxed writing style and helpful analogies and examples, this book is very easy to read. The projects chapters got me building some cool electronics gadgets right away. If you're interested in electronics, buy this book!

I'm an amateur (ham) radio operator who's looking for material to use for classroom courses on radio operation, electronics theory, etc. I bought this book hoping that there would be some ideas, and I was pleasantly surprised.

The Dummies series is pretty much hit-or-miss when it comes to utility, but this book really helped. The chapter on Multimeters (Volt-Ohm Meters, or VOMs) alone was worth the purhase price. I'd purchased another book (Getting the Most from your Multimeter) and was sorely disappointed that, once again, the book assumed the reader had far more basic knowledge than I did.

Is it lacking? Sure. If you're looking for some basic electricity fundamentals, this isn't the book. The "Basic Electricity" book from the Bureau of Naval Personnel (a Dover books reprint) is pretty good on this account, since it's used to teach semi-literate 18-year-old seamen a fundamental skill. The book could also use more detail in some areas but, what the heck--it's a Dummies book.

Compared to the "All New Elctronics Self-Teaching Guide" which I also purchased (much to my chagrin), it's great. The Self-Teaching Guide is simply awful as a beginner's book. Admittedly, the Self-Teaching Guide is a text book and, as such, it's assumption is that the reader has some fundamentals nailed down. The Dummies book, interestingly co-authored by Earl Boysen (a co-author on the Self-Teaching Guide), is really a solid intro to the subject.

I highly recommend this book.

I am currently studying for a degree in electrical/electronic engineering and would suggest to anyone in the same situation NOT to purchase this book. The information is simply too basic. I would advise someone who wants a more indepth knowledge of the subject matter to buy "A Practical Introduction to Electronic Circuits"- by Martin Hartley Jones.

I should have guessed with a name like "for Dummies", but anyhow it is an excellent beginners guide to electronics and the practical exercises are very good.