Customer Reviews

The boy electrician

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The classic how-to book, first published in 1913, is filled with dozens of electrical projects and experiments for the young and old alike.
Learn the principles behind radio and other early electrical wonders.
Build a spark coil, a crystal radio, even a toy train with the easy-to-follow instructions contained herein.
With the original long out of print, this modern paperback reprint may be the only affordable way to obtain a copy of this wonderful classic.

This book was written before the age of thinking that invention could be accompished on paper alone. Hands on experimentation was the order of the day. Real understanding was the result. The world we live in today is a direct result of those who marched to the beat of Alfred Morgans' drummer. Of course, if he published this book today, he would be shot (in California, New Jersey, New York, and Massachusits) for suggesting that "boys" actually go beyond safe video representation of physical science, and try to really build working devices. "Time out" parenting is not compaible with this book.

On the other hand, I first read this book in the late 60's, and built a few of the projects therein. My parents didn't quite understand, but they tolerated my enthusiasm, and my understanding of our world was better off for it. Get this book. Even if you are a boy that happens to be over 50, you will enjoy many hours of adventure and new understanding of things that have been with you from your beginning. I am thrilled to find a reprint after so many years.

I'm an engineer today probably because of this book which I borrowed several times from the library when I was 10 or so.
I never had the equipment to try any of the experiments but they inspired me nonetheless.

This is an amazing book, heralding from an age where absolute safety was put second to creating excitement and wonder, and real learning. If your prime concern in choosing educational materials for your child is that they be hazard free, then this book is definitely NOT for you. Actually, it goes a bit beyond the edge even at that (the original at least had an entire chapter on how to build your own x-ray set and fluroscope by getting an x-ray tube "which can be purchased for about four dollars and a half at the local electrical supply store", and which gratefully was no longer possible in the late 1950's when I was introduced to this book). But if your goal is to create excitement in your child for engineering and science, there is not book I have ever read which is better. Although I built only a few of the projects myself, I spent endless hours thinking "wouldn't it be cool....." It influenced me for life.

My grandfather gave me his copy of this book 30 years ago. I spent hours (days actually) pouring over every page. I had no idea where I would get half the materials needed for the projects, nor did I have a workbench on which to conduct the experiments - but I learned a lot about the devices around me. Magnets, solenoids, coils, batteries, telephones and radios were things I understood in principle because of this book. It made me realize that mysterious devices, even in their modern incarnations, were decipherable.

In much the same way that this book was out-of-date when I read it, it is timeless in the fundamentals it presents. I encourage anyone with inquisitive kids, who marvel at machines to find a reprint or scan of the book and share it with them. They may not immerse themselves in it as I did, but it will join them into a society of kids who have gone before them, who also had the same wonder and interest in the word of devices around them.