Make: Electronics: Learning Through Discovery Paperback – January 19, 2010

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.

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.