most useful books

[IRONMAN]

Lets face it;the best way to learn about electronics and related subjects is simply spending a lot of time reading, I'd like to know what some of you think are the best works on the subject, basic, analog, digital, whatever.
come up with a list of books you find invaluable(were talking take my girl-friend but leave the books valuable.).
personally, just a few here.
1: The old T.I. series on basic electricity (D.C. & A.C.), A great primer.
2:basic technical mathematics by allyn washington (probably long out of print but very thorough.).
3:benchtop elec. reference manual by veley (read this completly through!).
4:ttl and cmos cookbooks by lancaster (the best on the subject.).
5 igital computer electronics by malvino (O.K. this one is a little dated, and out-of print(try amazon.), but it's probably the most lucid, step by step inroduction to microprocessors ever, and just as valid today as when it was written.).<p>theres six of my all time favorites. have fun. you just might rediscover some things in the process.<p>[ June 01, 2003: Message edited by: IRONMAN ]</p>

[Chris Smith]

Forrest Mimms, ANY and ALL. They are drawn like a child did the drawings, but I still use them after more than 20 years of use, and have scanned then into the computer for all future references. Quick and easy. They don’t get better.

[fsdenis]

In addition to Mims and Lancaster's fine stuff, there are some older books I use frequently.<p>"How to build and use electronic devices without frustration, panic, mountains of money or an engineering degree" by Stuart Hoenig and Leland Payne<p>This written when chip opamps were new and expensive. Really good stuff on power supplies and amplifiers, including stereo.<p>"Practical Electricity" by Terrel Croft.<p>This written when vacuum tubes were new. Wonderful stuff on magnetic circuits in easy to understand english and lots of worked sample problems. Calculus is avoided.<p>"Practical transformer design Handbook" by Eric Lowdon.<p>Good stuff in here for people who want to build
transformers with special voltage outputs on scrounged steel cores.

[Chris Foley]

Data Books and App Notes -- especially Linear Applications Guide from National Semiconductor. It's a good beginning course in op amps and other linear stuff. Also, I'll second the motion on Don Lancaster -- all of his books are not only worth reading, but well worth the price. Active Filter Cookbook goes with TTL and CMOS Cookbooks on the top of the list.<p>Don Lancaster's Books<p>[ June 02, 2003: Message edited by: Chris Foley ]</p>

[rshayes]

Here's a few more to consider:<p>"Radio Engineering", by Frederick Emmons Terman. Forurth edition was published as "Radio and Electronic Engineering". A lot of basic material on RF circuits. Third and fourth editions are probably the best of the series.<p>"Electronic Designer's Handbook", by Landee, Davis, and Albrecht. Wide range of material on electronic equipment. First edition was mainly vacuum tubes. Second edition was edited by Giacoletto, and added a considerable amount of semiconductor material. Both editions are worthwhile.<p>"Handbook of Semiconductor Electronics", by Lloyd P. Hunter. Covers both the design and production of semiconductor devices, as well as a fair amount of application information. First edition included point contact transistors, the third edition is probably the most useful these days.<p>"The Boy Electrician", by Alfred Morgan. Elementary material presented in an experimental way. You can actually do the things he describes. Original copies are expensive, but Lindsay offers a reprint.<p>"Procedures in Experimental Physics", by John Strong. Some electronics, but mostly oriented toward making equipment for physical measurements. Written before physics researchers had big budgets. Illustrated by Roger Hayward, who later did the illustrations for the "Amateur Scientist" column in Scientific American.<p>"Book of Projects for the Amateur Scientist", by C. L. Stong. Similar to the previous book, but at a simpler level.

[Dean Huster]

The bulk of my electronics was learned from the ARRL Radio Amateur's Handbook. I was first given a 1962 edition back around 1964 or so by a good family friend and then bought a new one myself every five years or so. It contains good theory, construction practices, electronics data, vacuum tube data, test methods and the usual ham radio construction. I don't like the current editions, as they minimalize construction. Your best bet is to see if your library has older editions or visit ebay and try to find editions from the 1960 through 1990.<p>Walt Jung is another good author if you're into analog electronics. His IC Op Amp Cookbook is to op amps what Lancasters TTL Cookbook is to digital. Howard Berlin also has Opoerational Amplifiers with Experiments that I've used for years as my main op amp text for my op amps course. He's practical and easy-to-read. His op amp book is better than Jung's if you're just learning about them. Jung is that final reference for more complex circuits as well as the basics.<p>Dean

[dave8976]

One of the best books I have come across is by Michael Tooley, Electronic Circuits Handbooks Second Edition. This book is filled with theory and a lot of practical applications. It provides you with a good level of understanding of the full range of passive and active components work. Sorry to say this book apepars to be out of print. The author has written a number of other books as well.

[analogee]

Okay, gotta add one of my favorites, for general purpose electronic design -- "The Art of Electronics", by Horowitz and Hill.<p>Art of Electronics Website<p>In my opinion it is the best general purpose book in existence on electronic design. When I read this book, I was sure wishing I'd seen it a lot earlier. Even some tips on breadboarding and construction. A table that tells you what the pros and cons of particular types of capacitors are. And much much more.<p>As one example, they pretty much bypass the stupid and useless (for design purposes) view of a transistor as a current-controlled current source (that one screwed me up for a few years), and introduce transconductance early on.<p>IRONMAN mentions Malvino's book on digital electronics. I learned microprocessors in college with that book, and I agree, it was superb. After finishing it, you really understand what's going on inside, since you follow the construction of a complete uP from basic elements; you know what happens every clock cycle in the SAP-1 (Simple As Possible!).<p>Did you know Malvino has a book on transistor circuit design, "Semiconductor Circuit Approximations"? It is very good for people wanting to learn about bipolar transistor design.<p>And finally, my college library had a book "Electronic Circuit Analysis and Design", by Hayt, which took me considerably further along the path of learning transistor design than any course I took. My EM fields and waves text was by Hayt, "Engineering Electromagnetics", and it was about the best approach I've seen to a very difficult subject. I think Hayt deserves honorable mention, along with Malvino.<p>Regards,
Todd<p>[ June 03, 2003: Message edited by: analogee ]</p>

[fsdenis]

I agree with Analogee's judgement that the notion
of a bipolar transistor being a current controlled current source is hard to use for engineering purposes. But his statement provoked me to wonder if two of Forrest Mims' opamp circuits might be combined to simulate this mode of bipolar transistor operation and then become more useful for engineering purposes.<p>Call his transimpedance amplifier (current to voltage converter) circuit A.<p>Call his transconductance amplifier (voltage controlled current regulator) circuit B.<p>Circuit A: Vout = gain * Iin
Circuit B: Iout = Vin/R2b
Vin of circuit B is the same as Vout of circuit A
Gain of circuit A = -R1a<p>So Ioutb =(-R1a/R2b)*Ina
Let k = (-R1a/R2b)
Then Ioutb = k * Iina
And we have a current controlled current source.<p>Comprehensible? Useful?

[fsdenis]

Better Phrasing:<p>If we have a current to voltage converter feeding
a voltage controlled current regulator and we can
control the total gain with choice of two resistors then, It seems to me that we then have a
current controlled current regulator.<p>If we then vary the input current to vary the output current with chosen gain we have a current source (or sink) that behaves like a bipolar transistor in linear mode.<p>Does anybody think that this way of understanding
bipolar transistors makes them easier to design with? Not? Worse?

[analogee]

Well, you may be interested to know that such a device did exist, at one time; I designed a variable gain video amplifier with it. See the datasheet for the obsolete part here:<p>Elantec/Intersil EL-2082 datasheet<p>Current-in/current-out doesn't necessarily make anything easier to design or understand, but in this case it worked out okay. The video signal came out of the DAC as a current, so the input was ideal; the output current had to be converted to a voltage to be useful.<p>I've always found voltage easier to think about, but that's probably just how I was brought up. Current mode is useful sometimes for speed; capacitance to ground at nodes that are current inputs (having very low impedance) tends not to matter so much. I believe that's part of the reason why Elantec designed the 2082 for current mode operation. National had a current-input "Norton" amplifier, I believe the LM359, that was supposed to be fast for its day, but I never used it.<p>Regards,
Todd

[fsdenis]

Todd:
I looked up your circuit. Interesting. Thanks for
showing it to me.<p>Transistors in linear mode still fox me. For instance, I can build a stereo amp but I can't get
a "feel" for it and must endlessly cut,fit, try and evolve to get it to work.<p>I have been looking for ways to "calibrate" my thinking so that design in current mode becomes easier; ferrite core transformer design especially.<p>I'll keep on looking. Thanks for your kind answer to the tough question: easy vs hard.<p>Regards, Fred

[rshayes]

Since you mention buying some of these books in another recent posting, I might add one that was one of the all time "biggies" in more ways than one. The "Radiation Lab Series" prepared at MIT after World War II had a lot of information that is still useful. This was a 28 volume set describing the wartime radar work at MIT. A lot of the material, such as cascode RF amplifiers, wideband IF amplifiers, and video amplifiers was used in television receivers in the 1950's.There is also a fair amount of information about servo systems and mechanical parts. Some of the individual volumes, such as "Waveforms" and "Vacuum Tube Amplifiers" were classics by themselves.<p>Most good technical libraries have a complete set of these, and if you get the chance they are worth looking at.<p>Buying them is another matter. I saw one set for sale around 1990 and it was selling for over $700. This may have been a bargain, because I have also heard of people spending three years assembling a complete set by tracking down the individual books.<p>The original edition was published by McGraw-Hill about 1947 (at $5 per volume). It was later reprinted by Boston Technical Publishers and some of the volumes were reprinted still later on by Dover. The reprints are probably cheaper even as used books.<p>Another classic that hasn't been mentioned yet is the fourth edition of "Radiotron Designer's Handbook" by Langford-Smith. This was originally published in Australia, and then republished and distributed in the United States by RCA during the 1960's. It is about 1500 pages, mostly about radio and audio amplifier design (including designing coils and transformers). Most of the original sources are cited if you need more detail but the important information is in the book itself.<p>I think that this on is available on a CD, possibly from Antique Electronics Supply and probably other sources. The CD format is a good idea, since the original book was so thick that the bindings usually broke from use.

[Donald S. Lambert]

If you are looking for a book, especially a used book, try www.half.com. No bidding and prices are what the seller asks and the shipping is quoted so you know what the price is. Shipping is slow at times so might take time.
all you need to know is the book's title or author. Greybie

[samsmiles]

I like Practical Electronics for Inventors by Paul Scherz and Robot Builder's Bonanza by Gordon McComb. <p>For Math I find Kreyszigs Advanced Engineering Mathematics great.<p>And yes Art of electronics is over my level in Electronics but I might get there some day I just bought it few weeks ago.<p>Best regards, Samuel