| ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING 101 Everything You Should Have Learned in School, But Probably Didn't Darren Ashby Amsterdam: Elsevier, December 2005 |
Rating: 4.0 High |
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| ISBN-13 978-0-7506-7812-4 | ||||
| ISBN 0-7506-7812-7 | 332pp. | SC/LF/GSI | $43.95 | |
For anyone just beginning to study electronics (in school or as a hobbyist), and for those who have been out of the field for years, this book is an excellent refresher. Ashby's informal writing, plentiful diagrams, personal anecdotes, and sidebars with "thumb rules" make for an easy-to-take tutorial. He hits all the important topics: passive components; Ohm's Law; DC versus AC; resonant circuits; simple filters; op amps and comparators; digital logic; DACs, ADCs, and R-2R ladders; motors; power supplies; tools and test instruments. There's even a chapter on managing engineers.
The intent of this book is to cover the basics that I believe have either been left out of your education or forgotten over time. Hopefully, it will become one of those well-worn texts that you drop on the desk of the new guy when he asks you a question. There is something for every student, engineer, manager, and teacher in electrical engineering. – Page ix |
In addition to the discussion of "nuts and volts" engineering, Ashby covers the "people skills" side of things well. All in all, this is a very useful starter or refresher on what's needed to succeed in the world of electrical engineering. You can hit just the subjects you're interested in, or peruse the entire book; either way, it's a quick read. And if you get interrupted, finding where you left off is easier than with many books. There is a glossary of terms, a list of references, and a good index. The book also includes a CD-ROM with supplementary material.
An Amazon customer who's a working engineer gives a mostly favorable review of the second edition (Dec. 2008). I present some excerpts here:
This book is also exceedingly helpful for those in a non-Engineering track electronics courses, who maybe overwhelmed by the depth and audacity of a non-Engineering text like Horowitz and Hill. |
Pros
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Cons
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The table above gives what the customer calls the book's key pros and cons, reformatted for easier comparison. He's very specific in his criticisms, pointing out that while the book touts the LM324 quad op amp, the LM741 is the real workhorse. He also faults Ashby for not mentioning the NE555 timer integrated circuit, and considers the design software on the CD-ROM too advanced for beginning students of engineering.
In summation, Ashby has a gift for explaining this complex technical subject.1 I would recommend his first edition despite its long list of errors if there were no second edition. There is one, however.2 No doubt it corrects many of those annoying errors — and it's less expensive! You should look for that edition.
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