Practical Electronics for Inventors, Fourth Edition 4th Edition

by Paul Scherz (Author), Simon Monk (Author)

1,425 ratings

in Logic Circuits

ISBN-13: 978-1259587542

ISBN-10: 1259587541

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A Fully Updated, No Nonsense Guide to Electronics

Advance your electronics knowledge and gain the skills necessary to develop and construct your own functioning gadgets. Written by a pair of experienced engineers and dedicated hobbyists, Practical Electronics for Inventors, Fourth Edition, lays out the essentials and provides step by step instructions, schematics, and illustrations. Discover how to select the right components, design and build circuits, use microcontrollers and ICs, work with the latest software tools, and test and tweak your creations. This easy to follow book features new instruction on programmable logic, semiconductors, operational amplifiers, voltage regulators, power supplies, digital electronics, and more.

Practical Electronics for Inventors, Fourth Edition, covers:

Resistors, capacitors, inductors, and transformers
Diodes, transistors, and integrated circuits
Optoelectronics, solar cells, and phototransistors
Sensors, GPS modules, and touch screens
Op amps, regulators, and power supplies
Digital electronics, LCD displays, and logic gates
Microcontrollers and prototyping platforms
Combinational and sequential programmable logic
DC motors, RC servos, and stepper motors
Microphones, audio amps, and speakers
Modular electronics and prototypes

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Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Paul Scherz is a Systems Operation Manager who received his B.S. in physics from the University of Wisconsin. He is an inventor/hobbyist in electronics, an area he grew to appreciate through his experience at the University’s Department of Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics and the Department of Plasma Physics.

Dr. Simon Monk has a degree in Cybernetics and Computer Science and a PhD in Software Engineering. Dr. Monk spent several years as an academic before he returned to industry, co-founding the mobile software company Momote Ltd. He has been an active electronics hobbyist since his early teens and is a full time writer on hobby electronics and open source hardware. Dr. Monk is the author of numerous electronics books, including Programming Arduino, Hacking Electronics, and Programming the Raspberry Pi.

About the Author

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ McGraw-Hill Education TAB; 4th edition (March 24, 2016)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 1056 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1259587541
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1259587542
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 4.55 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.5 x 1.85 x 10.8 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #14,928 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1 in Integrated Circuits
- #1 in Microelectronics
- #1 in Logic Circuits

Customer Reviews:
1,425 ratings

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Paul Scherz
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Simon Monk
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For electronic kits to accompany my books, see: http://www.monkmakes.com
You can also find an electronics starter kit for the Raspberry Pi here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Monk-Makes-Ltd-Raspberry-Starter/dp/B00IT6AYJO
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Customer reviews

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3 star		4%
2 star		2%
1 star		1%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Omega ManTop Contributor: Arduino

The only book on electronics you will need.

Reviewed in the United States on January 26, 2017

Verified Purchase

This is probably the only book on electronics that you need. Really you could probably learn all of this on the web, but this puts a summary of everything all in one place. In some sense it's like an electronics textbook, but it's better than that because it's much more howto-oriented. And for $20 or so it's an amazing deal.

My main complaint is that the chapter on theory is a bit weak in making the math comprehensible. The main problem there is that in some places a new formula is introduced that uses a variable such as Q but Q is never defined. If I were writing this then I would create a callout box every time a new formula was mentioned that clearly spelled out what each variable is even if it seems redundant. For example: "Ohm's Law: V=IR. V=Voltage (Electromotive Force) in Volts, I=Current In Amps, R=Resistance in Ohms. I depends on V and R." And do that for every single one. This would make it much more useful for reference when you need to look up a formula and can't remember what Q is supposed to mean.

But the main point of this book is the non-theoretical information that it provides. For example, the real world models of various components like capacitors and wires and how they look in schematic form when stray inductance and leakage current resistance are added. Also, the chapter which is almost like a rewrite of the theory chapter but with most of the theory replaced with the details of various types of real world components that you usually don't think about (such as different resistor and capacitor technologies) is extremely useful. Most of these little details tend to get left out of things like textbooks, perhaps based on the thinking that they're too irrelevant.

Though I wish some of the math stuff had been handled better, anyone trying to build electronics in the real world should buy this book. After buying this I really don't feel like I need any other book.

Lastly, some reviewers mentioned the thin paper. I didn't find that to be a problem. I used to buy some "low cost developing world editions" of books that were printed on paper not much better than newsprint and this book has much better material quality for not much more money than a comparable low cost developing world edition of a textbook.

119 people found this helpful

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A. W. Straub

The absolute best book out there.

Reviewed in the United States on May 6, 2017

Verified Purchase

Having a BSEE, a copy of "The Art Of Electronics" and many copies of the Amateur Radio Handbook I must say that this is the best book on electronics I have seen in years. All of the practical knowledge I had to pick up over a 30 year career with just the right amount of math for the neophyte. I had to learn about heat sinks from a Thermalloy catalog. Now, here it is along with many other fabulous explanations in one bound volume! Thank you to the authors for putting this together AND offering it at an affordable price!

68 people found this helpful

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Luke

An excellent resource for electronic circuit design

Reviewed in the United States on March 20, 2016

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Having taken several Electrical Engineering courses as a part of my Software Engineering degree, and developed a keen interest in embedded systems, I wanted to pick up a book for reference on designing and building circuits. I was looking for something that would be useful both for reviewing topics and occasionally teaching myself something new, without wading through pages of examples and exercises, as is common with many full-blown textbooks. I read the description for the book, and it seemed to fit the bill, so I put it on pre-order and waited. It arrived around a week ago, and thus far it seems to be everything I was looking for, and more. If you don't want to sit through the rest of my review, I'll summarize by saying that this book is well worth the price. It is a big book, and covers a wide variety of topics in circuit analysis and design, from basic theory to electric motors to audio electronics. Each chapter includes an overview of the theory and big ideas of the subject, plus practical information for those looking to implement the ideas. I certainly was not disappointed.

As I mentioned, this is a large book, checking in at nearly 1000 pages. "You could hurt someone with it," as my old literature teacher used to say. It may weigh heavy on the scale, but is light on your wallet, in the $20-$30 range for a new copy. Another reviewer has pointed out that the low price is partially enabled by printing on rather low-quality paper. This is true; the paper is not of particularly great quality, but in my opinion this does not detract from the book's worth. By no means is the book in danger of falling apart, so I would not let this minor issue deter you from picking up a copy.

Now, regarding the content: this book is broken up into 16 chapters, or 17 if you count the three or four-page first chapter. The first "real" chapter is truly colossal, and fills almost 250 pages with the theory of electronic circuits. This alone is worth the price of admission. This is followed by another large chapter that deals with the basic components that are used in circuits everywhere, and includes many useful tables, diagrams, and sketches of almost every variation of the components imaginable (for example, the chapter describes 8 different styles of switches). From here, the book branches out into several areas of circuits. You can continue through the chapters in order, to learn about semiconductors, optoelectronics, and sensors; or you could jump ahead to chapter 12 to start on digital electronics, then continue to microcontrollers and programmable logic. In general, each chapter starts with a basic introduction to the topic, followed by subsections that dig deeper into the specifics. If there is anything to complain about structurally, it would be the rather odd placement of "hands on electronics," which is chapter number 7. The chapter itself focuses on the physical construction of circuits, including safety, diagrams, breadboards, and other lab equipment such as multimeters and power supplies. Given the content of the chapter, I feel that it would have made more sense to place it after the chapter on basic components, rather than wedged between sensors and op-amps. However, I certainly prefer to have the information in a strange location than not at all.

All in all, this is an excellent reference for someone who wants a one-stop shop to review any of the wide variety of topics that are covered. This book does seem to be more focused on breadth of topics than depth, so it may be more useful to hobbyists than professionals. In either case, the book should be a valuable pickup for anyone in search of a solid overview of electronic circuits.

71 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

DACO Technology

Serious and dangerous Errors!

Reviewed in Canada on December 9, 2018

Verified Purchase

I'm a certified electrician as well as an electronics engineer and i felt compelled to warn the would be buyers of this book that it has some life threatening errors in it. Specifically where the book references an electrical panel and shows that the neutral bus is connected to the ground bus by a bonding cable. This is a deadly mistake and should never be done. Panels have separate buses for the ground and neutral wires in the system for a reason! They are never connected together. The second related error is that there is about 1 Amp of current on the ground wire and that this is normal. The correct answer here is that under normal circumstances there should be ZERO current on the ground system as this only occurs under ground fault situations and must be corrected by the electrician. The third error is found near the back of the book where the power grid is described. The authors show that the power grid is connected to ground (again the neutral wire). This is an error as well. I checked with my college professor on all these points and he almost fell out of his chair when he saw these diagrams. These errors could cause a loss of life and this book should be edited immediately and this version pulled from the store.

88 people found this helpful

SaturdayScience

Great update to a classic especially for Arduino users without electrical background

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 21, 2018

Verified Purchase

I have an older edition and chose to update to the newer one. Of course the way transistors work has not changed, or any other of the theoretical and basic stuff.

The contents are greatly expanded resulting in a much bigger book. The contents are very worthwhile and many an Arduino user new to electronics would be well advised to get and read this book.

4 people found this helpful

John Konstantinidis

Great Book, easy to follow with great diagrams

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 5, 2018

Verified Purchase

This is a great book, very well written and easy to follow with great diagrams and in depth explanations of the topics. It has a plethora of information from basic to advanced topics. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking to learn the basics of electronic components, projects and also for those who need to cover the advanced topics. I have learnt a great deal from this book.

One person found this helpful

A Williams

I graze on imformation like a cow eats grass !

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 8, 2016

Verified Purchase

The only slight disappointment is that I would have liked diagrams in colour.
Especially the first two pages listing electronic symbols; such as resistors and capacitors.
Otherwise for the price of $40 and 998 pages excluding the index that is good value.
Well written the math can be a bit heavy but is explained logically.

Happy with my purchase although, I have only plowed through the first 40 pages so far !

6 people found this helpful

Barry

Great book, shame about the oil stain!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 6, 2020

Verified Purchase

So far great! Very comprehensive and definitely worth the money. My only problem is that it arrived with what seems like an oil stain, which is why it doesn't get 5 stars!