Principles of Electronic Instrumentation (Paperback)

by A. James Diefenderfer (Author), Brian E. Holton (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
This student-oriented text familiarizes undergraduates with the electronics involved in scientific instrumentation and control systems for use in research and end products. Suitable for the one- or two-semester courses, the text emphasizes electronics applications, rather than the physics or engineering of a device. This makes the material suitable for students who need a fundamental knowledge of electronics for the laboratory or workplace. Manufacturers' data sheets for nearly every common component are gathered in a convenient appendix, making learning and applications much easier and providing students with a valuable reference tool.

Product Details

• Paperback: 600 pages
• Publisher: Saunders College Pub.; 3rd edition (January 2, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0030747090
• ISBN-13: 978-0030747090
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 8.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #279,374 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars call this a text book, September 24, 1999

By A Customer

Each chapter on has a couple of examples with minimual calculations, diagrams are unexplained and what topics that are explained are without diagrams. There are no solutions to any problems and typos are everywhere, including formulas. They can't even get the formula for equivalent capacitance of capacitors in series correct.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great, but with feet of clay, August 19, 2000

By	"ronaldo_h" (Williamsport, PA USA) - See all my reviews

The text is exceptionally well organized, and does a marvelous job of covering a complex and rapidly changing field for the uninitiated. It is, however, sorely in need of a good proofreading by someone who knows the material. The difference between "R2/R1 + 2R2" and the correct "R2/(R1+2R2)" (P.227) could drive a student to drink. A table comparing octal and decimal numbers has the heading switched (P.253), reference is made to negative temperatures - in Kelvin! - and so forth. This really interferes with the learning process (I got an A, by the way).

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Thoroughly Error Ridden, Little Support, August 15, 2001

By	M. Cirtain (Cambridge, MA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I used this book in my undergraduate career as a physics and math major. I took Electronics Instrumentation as an elective because I genuinely wanted to learn the material, but I was sorely disappointed in the text. Besides being riddled with typos and errors, I found that the book was of no use as far as giving solutions (or even answers!) to any of the problems at the ends of the chapters. Additionally, I used the lab manual that accompanies the text, and it was equally error-ridden and unsupportive. It was as though no one ever proofed the texts prior to publication. Overall I think that with some editing, added solutions, and attention to student feedback this book could be a good resource as it covers a broad range of topics, but as it stands it is lacking.