The Art of Electronics [Hardcover]

Paul Horowitz (Author), Winfield Hill (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 28, 1989 | ISBN-10: 0521370957 | ISBN-13: 978-0521370950 | Edition: 2

This is the thoroughly revised and updated second edition of the hugely successful The Art of Electronics. Widely accepted as the authoritative text and reference on electronic circuit design, both analog and digital, this book revolutionized the teaching of electronics by emphasizing the methods actually used by circuit designers -- a combination of some basic laws, rules of thumb, and a large bag of tricks. The result is a largely nonmathematical treatment that encourages circuit intuition, brainstorming, and simplified calculations of circuit values and performance. The new Art of Electronics retains the feeling of informality and easy access that helped make the first edition so successful and popular. It is an ideal first textbook on electronics for scientists and engineers and an indispensable reference for anyone, professional or amateur, who works with electronic circuits.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Full of clever circuits and sharp insights, but with a surprising minimum of mathematics... The depth is genuine, as is the richness of examples, data and apt tricks."
Scientific American

"Far and away the finest book on the subject of electronics ... in the last decade. I cannot recommend this book highly enough to anyone whose research or experiments require some electronics."
Optical Engineering

"A delightful book...The circuits actually work, the schematics are all readable."
Review of Scientific Instruments

"This book is filled with a tremendous diversity of valuable information. More importantly, this book is a joy to read...It's not at all like studying--it's too much fun."
EDN (News Edition)

"This book provides a painless way to learn about electronic design. It is also a good read for those already experienced in electronics."
EDN (Magazine Edition)

"..it comes as close as any book we've seen to fulfilling the promise inherent in its title...written as though to educate the novice, but practicing engineers will encounter many useful tidbits they didn't know, hadn't thought about, or had long forgotten."
Analog Dialogue

"...a refreshingly simple, practical and comprehensive textbook on the subject of electronic circuit behavior and design...one of the few contemporary practical reference handbooks on electronic design basics."
Physics in Canada

"A lovely book, it covers a wealth of electronic topics in a very readable style."
Richard Morin, Sunexpert

"The second volume carries on une grande tradition as well as adding 400 new pages to the original (already massive) text. It is, without doubt, the book for the practical engineer. No cerebral theorizing here, no long sections of abstruse mathematical derivations; just page after page of solid empirical engineering. It is also light hearted and anecdotal, with some wonderful pages of bad ciruit 'howlers' that the authors have encountered."
John V. Hatfield, IJEEE

"...an excellent general electronic textbook."
Poptronics

"The best self-teaching book and reference book in electronics... The beauty and fun of electronics shows through."
Radio Communication

"Another electronics textbook that became an international best-seller... the book is renowned for presenting the techniques that circuit designers actually use."
IEEE Spectrum

Product Details

• Hardcover: 1152 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press; 2 edition (July 28, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521370957
• ISBN-13: 978-0521370950
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 2 x 10 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (172 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #15,874 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #15 in Books > Professional & Technical > Engineering > Telecommunications
  • #53 in Books > Professional & Technical > Engineering > Electrical & Electronics

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 55 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars It's a cookbook not a textbook! December 2, 1999

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

Excellent resource for all engineers/technicians who need quick solutions to common (and not-so-common) problems. The book is more an electronics "cookbook" than a textbook, in that the authors assume the reader is familiar with basic theory but might need help in identifying the best solution to a particular problem. It is not an "introduction to electronics" but, I would strongly recommend it to beginners who wish to augment a standard textbook or course with some good practical knowledge. The authors are very effective in reducing even some of the most complex aspects of electronics into easy-to-understand terms. This book is like having a good, experienced electrical engineer available 24 hours a day!

58 of 62 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars As already mentioned: The Electronics Bible September 23, 1999

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

I'm an undergraduate student in physics and electronic engineering. Although it hasn't been used as a textbook in my engineering course, it was used as the textbook for both second and third year electronics courses in my physics course. At any rate, it is regarded as the "Bible" of reference texts. Be aware that it is in reality a reference - although it can be used to learn electronics, there are other books that are probably more appropriate. However, for anyone between decent electronics enthusiast and professional electronic engineer, this is an indispensable tool, and I recommend it to anyone who considers themselves in this category. It has proved its worth over and over again (I purchased my copy in 1992, and despite its 10 year age, it is still highly relevant and useful). I anticipate the next version (should there be one) with great eagerness. This is one book that I couldn't be apathetic about reviewing. BUY IT!

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The best overall electronics book there is February 17, 2002

By Reader

Format:Hardcover

I recommend this book to everyone I know interested in electronics regardless of their knowledge and skill level. This book is full of useful circuits that are simple and work great. Just the other day I needed an absolute value circuit and a peak value circuit, I looked in the index, and there they were. If you know absolutely nothing at all about electronics this book might move a little fast for you, but if you like to learn, and like to think, and want a fantastic electronics reference book, this is the book. I first learned of this book when I took an electronics class; the instructor had written his own book, which we had to buy, but he told us this book was less expensive and better! If you like electronics then buy this book and you will probably use it almost daily. I read some of the criticisms on this book and some said that the book didn't go into enough detail on its circuits - I disagree; the circuits are all explained well but the explanations are short and to the point to enable the authors to include more circuits in the book (it's already as big as most phone books). If you don't understand a circuit all you need to do is go back and read the chapters on resistors, diodes, capacitors, transistors. etc., and then look at the circuit again. Everyone I know that deals with electronics from the basic hobbyist to the top analog engineer has a (worn out) copy of this book on their shelf.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars BEATS ALMOST ALL OTHER ELECTRONICS BOOKS IN ITS CLASS February 6, 2010

By John A. Furner

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I fully support this book per my technical background:
1. I had over 2,000 hours of USAF tech schools, from heavy ground communications to computers.
2. As a tech writer, I wrote over 400 H/W and S/W technical manuals over a period of 40 years.
With that said, you now have some measure to gauge the following "need to know" words.

What you need to know about the "Art of Electronics:"
1. It teaches like combined hands-on and classroom theory courses;
2. It's written and presented better than most of the 300 technical books in my home library;
3. It's so lucid, you only need simple math. However, I recommend first year calculus, especially if you intend to enhance your electronics expertise;
4. It covers everything from the purpose and characteristics of simple components to full bore analog and digital designs. Its extensive coverage also includes device data sheets and device-by-device comparison tables.

The "Art of Electronics" is an outstanding book from any perspective.

Enjoy!

25 of 29 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars DD October 28, 2003

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

I generally like this book but it takes a great deal of work to really understand what they are talking about. They claim that load lines and small signal models are not necessary but then use elements of both. The book is much easier to understand if you include these concepts. It seems to me that these concepts were actually in the back of their minds when they wrote the book. Trying to visualize the path of operation of a transistor without using the output characteristic curves seems very frustrating. Their explanation of the input impedance of an emitter follower is very confusing unless you already have a very thorough understanding of Q-points and what this actually represents on the characteristic curves. If you use their book as a starting point after having a good understanding of analog electronics engineering, then it is a good book. Likewise, the chapters on digital electronics are good, but only if you already have a good grasp of digital electronics engineering. Not many electrical engineering textbooks explain the operation of a differential ampifier well and this one does not either. They do explain the design of constant current sources well, but it makes much more sense if a set of output characteristic curves are used along with their explanation. Not many textbooks really explain how a computer works as a sequential machine. This one does not either. They simply talk about the different circuits used in a computer, but not how they actually work to create a sequential machine. They give examples of circuits that do not work and I generally liked that idea. Their explanation of feedback and frequency response leaves a great deal of information out. Again, if you already have a solid grasp of these concepts, then these sections are good.