Hi All,

I finished reading Grob's Basic Electronics did problems selectively and built some of the circuits on breadboards. I would be grateful for some suggestions on follow on books to read. I also provide my impressions of this book for others considering it.

I read Grob's Basic Electronics because it came highly recommended across the web and because Malvino's Electronics Principles (which I want to read) suggested this book as a prerequisite. Though Grob's book was quite lucid in its explanations except perhaps a couple of chapters towards the end on solid state electronics (for example the Thyristors and OpAmps chapter) where the presentation seems rushed with a fair bit of hand waving (ommitting details). Also derivation are not shown for some of the formulas in the later chapters of this book. Further I found this book rather slow going. For example the use of complex numbers for AC analysis is not introduced till after 20 chapters or so. I have a strong math background and hence found this tedious and unsatisfactory. Hence I also read through all of Real Analog by Tim Hanshaw which I found gave me a deeper understanding of Circuit Analysis and the ability to derive any formula rather then just memorise it. I recently discovered the University of Michigan Free Textbook Initiative and in particular Ulaby's Circuit Analysis book there, which is very much like Real Analog. I will probably go through this book too and I think it may have been the best choice not only because it is a free download (Thank you U. Michigan).

I am now a bit skeptical about using Malvino's text since it suggests Grob's and continues where Grob left off. I will be very grateful if you could kindly suggest a more rigorous textbook to follow on from Tim Hanshaw's "Real Analog" or Fawaz T Ulaby's "Circuit Analysis and Design". Please do correct me if I have the wrong idea about Malvino's book.

I am also looking for a interesting book on circuit experimentation. Most basic electronics lab books seem to only have experiements that "verify" very basic concepts that can already be deduced from theory. Are there any lab books that allow you to discover interesting circuit behaviours and explain those behaviours based on theory or challenge you to design new circuits ?

Regards
Tom

 

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I finished reading Grob's Basic Electronics did problems selectively and built some of the circuits on breadboards. I would be grateful for some suggestions on follow on books to read.

I don't have any suggestions for further study, but have you analyzed the circuits in the book so that you understand why every component was selected and why particular values were used? Bill Hewlett used this technique while he was working on his master's degree at Stanford.

 

I don't have any suggestions for further study, but have you analyzed the circuits in the book so that you understand why every component was selected and why particular values were used? Bill Hewlett used this technique while he was working on his master's degree at Stanford.

I am able to reason through all circuits in the book upto and including Transistor biasing techniques. I was able to do the same for OpAmps after reading "Real Analog" which was a much much better way of presenting OpAmp circuit analysis. I was unable to fully analyze circuits in a few of the last chapters (Thyristors, Power amplifiers) with the book closed. IMHO I think the book is a bit weak on these chapters. I think that is OK since Grob's is not really meant to be a Solid State Electronics books. Hence my search for a better Solid State book. I am also prototyping many of the circuits on breadboards. This is working fairly well for now.