Bebop to the Boolean Boogie (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Bebop covers all the basics, from the history of number systems (much more interesting than the tiresome number system discussions found in all elementary texts), to basic logic design, PALs, and even PC-board issues." EDN

"Every so often a technical book comes along that sets a standard for others to follow; two previous books that come immediately to mind are Foundations of Wireless and Electronics by M.G. Scroggie and The Art of Electronics by Horowitz and Hill, both of which have run to a number of editions ("Scroggie" was first published in 1936!). We believe two more technical books are about to line up alongside the all-time greats and both of these are Bebop books. We are sure you will discover that the article "Alternative and Future Technologies" is informative and easy to read. Max's style helps things along tremendously and you will find you have absorbed masses of technical information almost without conscious effort."
--Everyday Practical Electronics

"Maxfield literally takes the digital bull by the horns. We are treated to explanations of Boolean algebra, transistor switches, an introduction to logic and memory circuits--even customer-designed (application specific) integrated circuits-delivered in a lively style with well-thought-out illustrations and indexes. For those of use who love electronics--love finding out how things work--Bebop to the Boolean Boogie is a must-have reference."
--Stephan Ohr, contributing editor to Computer Design

"This is a dangerous book. . . . Not only do you stand a chance of learning something from it, but ten years from now you will still remember it!"
--Pete Waddell, editor, Printed Circuit Design

"When you turn on everyday electronic appliances and computers, there's an electron dance that goes on inside. Max's book can help you hear and understand the music and learn the steps. Read this book and you'll have a greater appreciation of how things work (or, how they should work), and you may even pick up some Karnaugh knowledge along the way!"
--Brian Moran, Manager of Technical Evangelism, Microsoft

"Lives up to its title as a useful and entertaining technical guide . . . well suited for students, technical writers, technicians, and sales and marketing people."
--Electronic Design

"If you want to be reminded of the joy of electronics, take a look at Clive (Max) Maxfield's book Bebop to the Boolean Boogie."
--Computer Design

"Writing a book like this one requires audacity! . . . Maxfield writes lucidly on a variety of complex topics without 'writing down' to his audience."
--EDN

"Extremely readable and easy to understand, you'll wonder how people learned about this stuff before this book came along."
--New Book Bulletin, Computer Literacy Bookshops

"A highly readable, well-illustrated guided tour through basic electronics."
--Science Books & Films

"There's something for anyone involved in anyway in electronics, whether as a mild interest or as a serious technician. . . . The book is an excellent and invaluable resource for anyone who's ever held a soldering iron and wants to know what makes current electronics technology tick, and where it's going in the future."
--Everyday with Practical Electronics (U.K.)

"This book is better than most college courses for learning electronics basics."
--The Daily Spectrum

"... is the MTV version of an embedded how-to book. It's fun. It's a fast read". -- Review --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"makes a topic that is often considered dry and possibly boring accessible to everyone...with supplemental written and hands-on exercises..."

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 471 pages
• Publisher: Newnes (March 15, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1878707221
• ISBN-13: 978-1878707222
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 8.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #221,630 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #31 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Programming > Software Design, Testing & Engineering > Logic
  #90 in	Books > Professional & Technical > Engineering > Electrical & Electronics > Digital Design

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Irreverent writing, good topics, December 26, 2005

By	wiredweird "wiredweird" (Earth, or somewhere nearby) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

Amazon Verified Purchase

Maxfield's book is unique, both in format and in content. And I'm not just talking about the gumbo recipe at the end.

The first section, almost 150 pages, is "logic lite." It starts with transistors, both MOS and bipolar. From there it works its way up to simple latches and such, and scratches the surface of state machines, with side trips to boolean arithmetic and such. The breezy, informal style will work for people put off by more academic treatments, but the logic design content stops way short of what any other basic logic text would present.

The second, longer section covers material sorely missing from all other logic texts I know. It starts with the simpler parts of silicon fab process, then goes through all kinds of printed circuits and hybrid packages giving a fair tour of the basic printed curcuit (PC) processes that were current when the book was written (1995). It even goes into gutsy stuff like the copper patterns in PC processes that have to do with heat flow during soldering. All those real-world facts earned this book an extra star. The "far out technology" chapter at the end is an interesting read, too, with its discussions of nano, optical, and molecular computing.

The book's weaknesses are significant, though. It would work well with any of several companion texts that would cover what this misses. That includes more advanced logic techniques, like alternatives to gate-level implementation and all the fussy bits of state machines. A standard logic text (e.g. Katz) would fill in those blanks. Going in a different direction, it does only a little towards talking about how PC layout interacts with logic design. More about ground planes, guard rings, power decoupling, RF emissions, etc. would fit well with the detail presented here, espcially when you see how much time and effort it already spends on "vias" vs. "holes." The little bit of analog discussion from the front would help here - why inductive effects matter at high frequencies, why distributed capacitance is different from lumped, why you'd have a high-value and low-value capacitor in parallel, and why that ceramic cap near the power input has a saw cut in the edge. A third possible direction would be the way Wirth's book on circuit design for CS students went: into the higher levels of design, letting tools attend to the lower levels. The biggest flaw is in treating FPGAs as exotic, out-there technology - by 1995, they were well into the main stream, and have very nearly killed off discrete logic and ASICs in many areas.

If you just want a light-weight intro to logic design and to the physical circuits that carry it, this is OK. It could have been better in all directions and, at this 2005 writing, you should check it's sell-by date. I gave it the fourth star for addressing PCs and mounting at all, not for addressing them well.

//wiredweird

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding!, April 24, 2003

By	Ching-An Cheng (Mountain View, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bebop to the Boolean Boogie: An Unconventional Guide to Electronics (with CD-ROM), Second Edition (Paperback)

I have a MSEE, but I found this book to be far more enlightening and useful than any textbook I ever read in college. It teaches you the real basics of electronics without going into complex mathematical equations and theories. It teaches you in a way that is fun with emphasis on the key points that really matter. If you work in the electronic industry, but are non technical or even if you are technical this is a great book that is easy reading. They should write more books like this.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bebop delivers a thorough grounding and it is fun!!, May 16, 1997

By A Customer

Maxfield audaciously attempts to cover the fundamentals ofelectronic theory and components from atoms to large scale integrationand beyond. He manages to pull it off brilliantly.

This is a book that anyone interested in the subject can read for pleasure, it is no stuffy textbook, and yet you find that you have received a comprehensive grounding in the subject, almost without realising it.

The authors off-beat style and liberal sprinkling of quirky facts keeps your interest while difficult concepts are presented in a way that makes them easy to understand yet manages to cover them in more than sufficient detail

There is also a pretty good Seafood Gumbo recipe.

The author has a website at http://ro.com/~bebopbb

See also Maxfields new book - Bebop Bytes Back (an unconventional guide to computers) at http://ro.com/~bebopbb/bbytesb.htm