Make: Electronics (Learning by Discovery)

This book is excellent. Like a lot of other reviewers I too had delved into the theory side of electronics, for instance the Barron's Guide ELECTRONICS: THE EASY WAY, which although good is a bit on the dry abstract side. Platt gets right into hands on projects so that you can actually see and understand what is going on in the real world. And it is true that this is a beginner's book; that's why I bought it. I mean sure, I did skip over couple of the sort of goofy stuff like licking a battery and burning out a battery, but I might possibly go back and do the age-old, and yes children's science fair (or should that be Maker Faire?!), make a battery out of lemons, pennies, and zinc, only because that scenario was featured in the British science-fiction comedy show RED DWARF season 10 episode "Lemons"; it's a TV tie-in folks! I haven't opened up the relay yet either but I will do that because it's an excellent idea to actually see what is going on inside. As to some reviewers complaints about purchasing tools and components, right away that tells me they're just wannabes wasting everybody's times. Obviously if you are serious about this you will be purchasing your own equipment and if you can't afford basic stuff I don't know why you'd be interested in this area in the first place. Personally I've been slowly acquiring electronic, computer, and bicycle repairs 'cause I want to be, surprise surprise, actually fixing and making things. (I just also experienced this phenomenon at a local user group meeting for video/film editing in which we have a raffle of software and gear and one bonehead said he couldn't accept his prize because he "had an old computer that wouldn't run it" which of course is totally wasting everybody's time since it actually indicates that he wasn't even contemplating on buying on new Mac or PC to run the software the whole meeting was about!) And to answer the other camp of guys (it's always guys, have you ever noticed that?) who think they know everything who have complained the the book is too "basic," er it is a beginners book. If they already know so much why are they purchasing it in the first place? Also, the criticism is invalid anyway since although Platt starts out with basic concepts he gets into some pretty solid (state!) projects using 555 timers, logic circuits, etc. But maybe some of the other negative reviewers didn't get that far 'cause it was hurting their poor widdle brains! And to the criticism of using old school analog techniques in the beginning of the book, the whole point is to demonstrate basic electronic ideas instead of having them hidden inside a black box. I'm nearing the first half of the book and am really getting a lot out of actually assembling an amplifier out of transistors which finally makes a lot of the theory finally come to life for me. And at the TV station where I work I'm also helping our Assistant Engineer solder together transformer/rectifier boards that we are using to drop down nasty high voltage 3-phase power for our monitoring interfaces. And as a final plus, Platt does also have a lot of information about further books, web resources, and electronics suppliers in the book. Well done sir!

I bought this book 5 months ago, and I am about 2/3rd through it. I've got a Masters in Computer Science degree and have been developing embedded software off and on for 20 years. I realized I was tired of not knowing how things worked at the fundamental circuit level, and bought this book to learn the basics. After buying the book, I bought all of the components that the book suggests, and then I went to work. Mostly working one experiment a day, and supplementing the material with the web (to view data sheets mostly), I can honestly say I really have come quite a long way towards achieving my goal of learning the foundations of DC electronics. The book covers quite a wide range of topics, from the fundamentals of current and voltage to integrated circuits. The projects are interesting, and well presented. Speaking of the projects, it's important to not just read the book, but to build and debug the projects it contains, in the order presented. I skipped to using a breadboard a little earlier than was suggested in the book, but otherwise, I followed along with each experiment presented. Each roughly builds on the other, and the pacing from learning one skill to the next was comfortable. One of the nice things is the book shows circuits early on using illustrations of how the circuit would be layed out on a breadboard. Being able to compare the breadboard layouts to the circuit diagrams helped me to learn to read circuit diagrams must faster I think (comparing abstract diagrams to a breadboard is an important learning process I would argue). Later book experiments only provide circuit diagrams, but I found I was able to understand them due to my work on earlier projects, and I've since gone on the web and circuit diagrams are really no longer that difficult for me to understand now, thanks to this book. I love a book that really teaches, and this one does. There are a lot of books on electronics out there, but I really can't imagine a better one for gaining the practical knowledge that this book sets out to teach. I know I won't be an electrical engineer, but I am really happy I bought the book and worked the exercises. Highly recommended.

This is a great book both for those who just want to get into making electronics and for the beginning electrical engineering student who wants to put the theory from class into practice. This book introduces the basics of the theory like Ohms law and then shows you how to assemble actual circuits and basic devices to see how things work in the real world. The author tells you what components and supplies you will need and walks through assembling different types of circuits. You can assemble them on a breadboard or actually solder components onto a circuit board. One thing you will find if you are an electrical engineering student, you learn all this material in class and learn how to draw circuit diagrams, but when you get to the point of doing labs you have no idea how to actually hook up components. If you are taking classes on campus and have a TA right there to help you, it is not a big deal. But, if you are in a distance/online program, you are kind of on your own and it is not something that is completely intuitive. This will help you figure that out. It has a lot of good illustrations and corresponding explanations. So, whether you are a beginner electronics enthusiast or taking actual classes, this will definitely be helpful.

I'm at the university studying Electronics and I bought this book because i wanted to learn more about how electricity worked and how could it be useful for me. I'm very pleased with the book. It tought me very well Ohm's law to the Inductance experiment where I am right now. It also teaches you how to solder and make permanent circuits. Of course, I doesn't teach how to print tracks, just solder with cables. But also covering myths. It teaches you to make a battery out of lemons, LEDs and controlling them, emitting pulses, count decades on 7 segment displays, make electricity out of magnets and coils (just for an LED), program a chip and much more. I recommend this book if don't know anything about electricty or if you just studied electricity and want an intro to IC (integrated Circuits). 2 thing that blew my mind is that I can make an nonpolarized capacitor (for sinewaves signals) with 2 electrolytic capacitors. And making a capacitor start with positive voltage and then drop slowly to 0. Negatives: I give it a 4 star because the Transistor isn't well covered. It doesn't teach anything about beta o HFE (ß*Ib=Ic, beta x base current=Collector current), which is ESSENTIAL to know if the transistor will amplify or just act as switch. Some of the components aren't easy to get such as TEA2025B and 2n6027. I live outside United States and it isn't easy to get some components. I can buy massively all of them and get it by mail but it is $20 extra. In any case, I can get most of the components by the electronics shop in my city. Overall, very cool book. I love it.

Great book. Starts at a first exposure to the field of electronics and progresses step by step in an easy to follow presentation style and pace. The complaint could br made the pace is sometimes a little slow; take a deep breath, put away those thoughts which may include self harm, and just read a little faster. I don't think the book will leave anyone behind in a dust of confusion as it speeds away. This horse drawn commuter bus stops at all stops and makes sure all are aboard as it plods along. The book is well written and contains great projects from which to learn, gain hands on experience, and develop the skills which will lead to the ability to complete more and more sophisticated projects. If learning electronics is your goal, this book is a great way to take that first step and many many more steps towards that goal. This will get you started, will provide a solid base to support further development. As skills and knowledge increase the information gained and skills learned in this book will continually be utilized and will not hinder due to teaching poor technique or skipping essential details due to poor organization as occurs in many "Teaching the Basics" type of books.

This book is an excellent investment for a budding engineering and anyone learning electronics, young and old alike. This book provides clear and succinct explanation for electronics (ex. diodes, etc). I have engineering and physics textbooks but this book just beats them since the information on electronics is all condensed in this book. I don't have to search online or from one textbook to the next. I have borrowed my nephew's book to help me understand some electronic concept in my textbooks as it is very clear and understandable. This is an excellent reference book for all, whether you are a housewife or student since we interact with electronics in our daily life. It is important that everyone knows the basics of how circuit run and how electricity is dispersed through wiring. This book makes learning electronic so easy. Electronic is not a hard material to grasp, rather it is really pretty simple. One should not think that learning about electricity is a difficult material--it is not! There are projects to accomplish in this book that fit with the topic of discussion. I highly recommend this book for all!

I am enjoying this book very much. After going through the essentials of electricity (and electronics) the book launches with chapters examining electrical component characteristics and then demonstrates how to incorporate that component into a useful circuit that you assemble. The author details the tools and components that you need for each section with pictures and suggested sources and part numbers making it easy to buy what is needed to complete the projects. Be prepared with some cash (or on-line credit) here for getting the components. You can ease yourself into this expense at first and supply the first few chapters for less then $10. Assembly starts by connecting components together with alligator clips then progresses as the schematics become more complex with many components by assembling circuits on a breadboard device designed for experimentation. The experimentation advances into actual soldering of component leads which at this point I assembled a home security system alarm that has functional application. As the author advances your skill, semiconductors are addressed with very well thought out explanation and application and this advances into integrated circuits. This book will pull you into becoming and electronics hobbyist at its minimum or perk your interest into further study into electronic engineering. This book will be excellent for a young experimenter at an age of 12 years or an adventurer of age 80 or grater. No prior knowledge of electricity or electronics are required, you can enjoy this book regardless of your level of understanding of the subject.

Like many of you I wanted to teach myself hobby electronics. Finding a book wasn't a problem, however finding a well written book that was easy to understand was a bit taxing. After reading the reviews I decided this looked like a decent choice and so I ordered it. When I received the book not knowing fully to expect I didn't have the highest of hopes. I started reading the first chapter and I was hooked, It was perfect. Straight to the point, descriptive, easy to understand, this book is all of these things and more. It not just tells you, it shows you what to do and not do through safe and stimulating experiments. I couldn't have picked a better book. A few weeks after purchasing I lent this book to a friend that was taking a electronics corse at his college and wanted to know what to expect before getting to class. He said this book had everything they studied all quarter and was very glad he read it. Bottom line, if you want to teach yourself hobby electronics look no further, this is the best book out there.

it is good for beginers as it contains just experiments and teaches us with those experiments.its name suits it certainly.l really love it.its good but canbe best if contains some more information than experiments.l mean to say same amount of experiment and some more information so just 4 stars

This is a very well-written text which is fun an entertaining to read, with an abundance of illustrations (breadboard diagrams, circuit diagrams, photos) -- take a look inside and you'll see. This may be the most fun and rewarding book on the subject of electronics; it certainly is of all the books I've seen. I've tinkered with electronics since I was about 10, and there are some things which I understood from the beginning, and others that I'm still a little unsure about. I didn't become an electronics engineer from reading the book, but it definitely made a lot of things much clearer to me, and it also makes me want to dive in building all kinds of circuits again (I've not done much in the recent past). The text achieves a perfect balance between adressing non-engineer people and also going deep enough, teaching you to build and understand real devices/applications and not just toys. There is little theory, but always enough so that you may understand how a component works, on a pragmatic level. The text is written in a very concise, pragmatic, clear language. This makes it fun to read; and it is never boring. The author explains many basic electronics concepts by demonstrating them in a number of practical projects (which, of course, is the most sensible approach). These are not just recipes; you get very detailed instructions how to build the projects, but you also learn how the parts work (by themselves, and in a circuit); and why you would choose one solution or part over another. After reading the book, I found it much easier to understand circuits, to read circuit diagrams, and I am now a lot more confident about the subject, and I now consider myself knowledgeable enough to build circuits that I previously thought I could never build, let alone understand. The book covers both analog and digital circuits, and just enough of both to allow you to take it from there and get to the really meaty stuff. (For instance, the digital counter built from "low-level" integrated circuits, which I would never have attempted to build because I always thought it's too hard. I now know that it's actually quite easy, and it is very possible to understand digital circuits on the lowest hardware level.) The last chapter is about building a simple robot that is controlled by a PIC microcontroller. If you've used an Arduino, you might think that you won't be able to build anything without the comfort and abstraction that the Arduino environment provides, but you will be enlightened to see that it's rather easy to program a microcontroller directly and interface it with other components. (I had previously avoided PIC because I thought they were much harder to handle than AVRs, but again I learned that this is not so.) Unless you're an electronics engineer or a very experienced hardware tinkerer/professional, buy this book. You will have a fun time reading it and you will learn many things, but the best is that you'll get excited to start lots of new hardware projects. I'd like to congratulate Charles Platt on this book -- this is one of the finest examples of making seemingly hard and complex subjects easy and fun.

Best book I've ever read on electronics. A lot of books focus almost exclusively on theory with very little practical knowledge. What I really liked about the book is that it started with practical knowledge and without you realizing you're learning the theory. The book is extremely well written and the instructions and examples are really easy to follow. Each chapter also includes the list of items you will need to complete each chapter. I cannot say enough about this book. If you want to learn about electronics on your own, to me this is the starting book bar none. It's not a university textbook full of theory and diagrams, but rather a down and dirty into building actual circuits that do something. And everything is explained along the way. Great book!

Muito bom. A forma prática de ensino proposta pelo autor é estimulante. Um bom início para quem deseja aprender eletronica.

This is the best introduction to practical electronics I have found. It is clearly written and well illustrated and the suggested experiments are interesting and help you learn. The problem is that it is written with US suggestions for parts. There is a parts kit available from a US shipper for chapters 1-4 but it is expensive and the shipping costs significant especially if you get hit with customs/VAT. Instead I ordered nearly all the parts from Maplin: their GCSE component kit is an excellent start and then you only need to add a few switches and potentiometers. If you read ahead a few chapters you can find what you need and Maplin have a small minimum order quantity. I thought the last chapter got a little esoteric and the computing part has dated quickly. However all in all, I strongly recommend this. In case it helps others, I recommend as a next step: Hands on Electronics: A practical introduction to Analog and Digital Circuits by Kaplan and White. It deals very well with the bits this book skims over, particularly transitors and op amps. You will need a scope and will have to cobble together the right power supplies or buy an bench unit but there are good value versions available on Amazon (Rigol scope and Basetech BT-305 power supply are good). A good text book will also help. I resisted buying the bible, The Art of Electronics by HandH, for ages because it is ridiculously expensive and out of date, but finally succumbed and did not regret it. The explanations and exercises are outstanding and only the component lists and computing parts date really badly.