Signals, Systems, and Transforms (4th Edition) (Hardcover)

by Charles L Phillips (Author), John Parr (Author), Eve Riskin (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
For sophomore/junior-level signals and systems courses in Electrical and Computer Engineering departments. This text provides a clear, comprehensive presentation of both the theory and applications in signals, systems, and transforms. It presents the mathematical background of signals and systems, including the Fourier transform, the Fourier series, the Laplace transform, the discrete-time and the discrete Fourier transforms, and the z-transform. The text integrates MATLAB examples into the presentation of signal and system theory and applications.

From the Publisher
Explores the full range of signals, systems, and transforms both continuous-time and discrete-time with a focus on the relationship between theory and its application in practice. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 784 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall; 4 edition (July 22, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0131989235
• ISBN-13: 978-0131989238
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #512,765 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Required reading in HELL., April 19, 2004

By	JohnnyEgo (Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Signals, Systems, and Transforms (3rd Edition) (Hardcover)

This book is evil. I mean evil in the Biblical sense. Think Dante's Inferno and the innermost circle of hell. Actually, being frozen in a lake or forced to eat excrement seem rather pleasant compared to the twisted, nonsensical passages in this book. Perhaps I would have liked the book better if it had been written in Farsi. I don't understand Farsi either, but at least then it would have had an excuse.

The book is poorly worded. Examples are not fully worked, and make critical assumptions between steps that are neither documented nor explained. The homework problems bare as much semblance to the text as I bare to Tommy Lee or a large piece of office furniture. Sections of the book are not in chronological order, meaning that critical information for understanding a section is often several more sections ahead.

If you have to buy this text, I strongly recommend purchasing the Shaums (sp?) Outlines on Fourier Transforms, which is concisely written and has several well documented examples. I encourage you to keep this book in the bathroom as an alternate source of material should you run out of toilet paper. At least then, you may get some use out of it.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Terrible, terrible book, March 11, 2004

By	"idreamofjeani" (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Signals, Systems, and Transforms (3rd Edition) (Hardcover)

This is a very poor book. It is filled with errors, and the presentation is extremely incoherent (not clear at all, despite the editorial claims). Entire paragraphs of thought were left out. The order of the text is crazy. The pictures are not very good. The presentation is not qualitative. My classmates do not understand the material conceptually from the book, and we have one of the authors as our teacher. I wish I could say this book is going to get better in future editions, but it is fundamentally flawed. It would need to be completely rewritten by different authors.

STAY away from this text, even if your school requires it. You will NOT learn the material from this book. If you are a school official, PLEASE do not use this text for your school!

GET BOTH OF THESE instead. They are the best:

-- Linear Signals and Systems by B.P. Lathi
An EXCELLENT book about systems and signals that is incredibly qualitative, clear, and carefully written. The first 6 chapters about Systems are its strength. You will really learn the material well, not just theory, but real world. Its Fourier signal anaylsis chapters are a bit weaker.

-- Transforms in Signals and Systems by Peter Kraniauskas
An amazing book with the most incredible qualitative GRAPHICS. The entire subject of transform analysis is presented with pictures AND complete analysis. You can't possibly understand the transforms better with any other presentation. This is the book to use for Fourier transform analsys.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Just go light $119 on fire..., May 24, 2005

By	maxwell (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Signals, Systems, and Transforms (3rd Edition) (Hardcover)

...and save yourself the grief of trying to learn anything from this book. This is the required text in one of my EE courses and I haven't found a single redeeming quality in it yet.

The material is not presented in a very concise manner I typically spend a great deal of time filtering through the chapters to find the important details. Most of the time I have to go to a text from one of my other courses to find what I am looking for.

The examples are few and not helpful in working the exercises at the end of the chapters.

Any good text on circuit analysis which covers the Fourier and Laplace transforms and their applications would be more useful.