I teach an introductory class in electronics at a small university. The class is intended for scientists, not electrical engineers; so the emphasis is on basic knowledge, practical troubleshooting skills, and design. I've used the Second Edition of this book a number of times with some satisfaction simply because the book covered most of what I needed. It was a great reference book for just about anything someone would want to know about electronics.
However, there were some notable gaps in the Second Edition that I typically teach in an electronics class; specifically, I teach a section on transducers and microcontrollers. With the Third Edition, there are new sections on sensors (transducers) and microcontrollers, and now this book has everything in it that I could possibly want to teach. I've been using the Arduino for class the last couple of years because most scientists would use a microcontroller to design a piece of equipment instead of discrete gates and logic chips. So with these new additions, I cannot imagine any other book that would be needed for a class. So from this point forward, I will be using this book for EVERY electronics class that I teach.
The detail in the book is in-depth enough for folks who want to know how everything works, BUT the person who wants to skip past the theory can certainly do that and STILL learn a lot from this book. As I teach, I tend to skip around within the book to cover what is important to me. The chapters are designed to be somewhat modular; for instance, I can teach the basics of analog electronics and transistors and then move to microcontrollers without necessarily having to spend a lot of time time on discrete logic chips.
There are lots of illustrations and graphs; so those who need to see something to understand it will be pleased. There is also a lot of detail on practical things like motors that generally are NOT in an electronics book.
The sections on household electricity are excellent and very useful, since some equipment/inventions would require mains power. So knowing how to be safe around it and how to use it properly is important.
I haven't read every single page yet and marked it up. In a book this size, I am sure there will be some typographical errors along the way and maybe even a mistake or two in explaining something. But I would still say this book is the BEST practical book on electronics out there. Kudos to Mr Scherz and Dr. Monk. You've taken an excellent book and modernized it in a great way for the current day.
In short, for a 1000 page book, anyone who buys this is getting a bargain. It's the BEST.
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Top reviews from other countries
L. Wilkins
Good, in spite of the title
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on July 22, 2016csmith.eu
Not perfect but a good overview of electronics
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on February 16, 2016Coldnight
"The" book - as in "THE" man.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on June 20, 2015
