electricity

I bought this book as a Christmas present for my four-year-old daughter, who has been fascinated for months about electricity. She really enjoys it when I read this little book to her, even though it's clearly written for children a little older, given the use of words like "electron" and "generator" and "turbine." However, I make it a policy never to underestimate the ability of children to understand the world around them, and, much to my delight, my daughter recently pointed to the drawing of a generator in the book and said "generator!" This book makes learning fun, as it should be. Great artwork, too.

This book was written by people who spent their lives for something they loved. Their passion is evident from the in depth analysis and their personal contribution to many aspects of the presented theory.
This book is highly recommended to engineers and students, however it might not be very useful to people with limited engineering knowledge.
And a personal comment: If you are a Mechanical, of Aeronautical engineer fascinated by aerodynamics, David Sharp's section will surly challenge and intrigue you...

I went to Dunwoody Institute, and their electrical department uses this as a textbook for future electricians. The biggest downside is it doesn't cover some of the low voltage/HVAC in the depth that it does everything else. It has constant code references, but it also explains things plainly enough that most people can understand them. It is a little expensive, but I would definately recomend it.

I have wired four new homes and remodeled one using the concepts in this book. The homes ranged from 3200 to 5000 square feet in size. The 5000 sq/ft house used 400 amp service for the main panels. I am a do it yourself homeowner. I am a firmware engineer by trade so I don't wire for a living. This book was magnificent in helping me understand how to put the entire picture together for a large complicated home. These homes included security systems, phone systems, home audio systems, internet wiring, and of course power and lighting everywhere that I needed it. I learned so much from this book and the way that it walks through each room in the house. I recommend following it all of the way through on your own house plans. What it lacks I was able to find by looking at homes being constructed in the area. Things like how high up do I put the outlets and switches comes to mind. The code changes every three years and so does this book. I got most of my knowledge from the 1993 book. I used the 1996 and 1999 books on the later homes but the basics were already there. All code changes are very well covered in the latest edition and nothing is dropped from edition to edition that I know of. I am very impressed with Mullin's style and thought that I could show some of my gratitude back for the help that he gave me to do this over and over again. I have recommended this book to many friends who have also wired their own homes. If I needed to I would buy it again but I have decided to live in one of my houses for a while. What I believe this book has that others do not is a grasp of the whole picture. I was able to do the entire project each time with this book. I installed the service conductors from the transformer to the house. I built up the main breaker panels and subpanels. I performed the load calculations to make sure that all circuits were properly balanced. I don't think that many of the other wiring books cover all of these things. You can perform the entire wiring of your residential home by yourself with the knowledge that you can glean from this book and a few questions asked of your local inspectors and examining the work of electricians wiring in your area. Make sure that you follow the code and not the local electricians though because I do not know how some of them pass inspections with some of the work that they do. Good luck on your project.
Thanks Ray for a great book.

No, its not the cheapest book but it is probably the best value. I picked it up to ensure code compliance and safety for my basement remodelling project. I tend to ask lots of questions and Mr. Mullin's book has answered them all. If you don't have a friendly electrican next door to answer all your wiring questions then buy this book. If you do, buy the book anyway and save your friendship.

Having been in the Biomed field of Electronics for 15 years, it is amazing how much of the basics I had forgotten. True Biomed techs are required to be Certified Electronic Technicians, and then are given little opportunity to use the info we have learned as the industry has basically been turned into board exchange programs (very boring). In addition, much of our time is spent doing mundane safety testing and coddling nurses who love to butcher equipment. So far this book has been an excellent way for me to get reacquainted with the components. I belive that if this book were used as an introduction in high school and college, that many techs would have a much greater understanding of what the electronic world is about. This author is excellent.

I found this book to contain a wealth of information. Being new to electronics, I enjoyed Randy's easy to read writing style. The book makes a excellent prerequisite to better understanding his two latest amplifier books, both of which I own.

I'm a systems analyst, and wanted to get into building *things* instead of just code. So, I bought a few electronics books and set out to learn. I quickly found out that many books expect a lot of background knowledge, or just briefly touch on something and then use the concept extensively later on. This all made learning quite frustrating.

That was until I found this book... This book is leaps and bounds above the others... The author explains things very clearly, and really starts from the begining. The writing style is very easy to read, and the projects in the book are actually useful. I've since bought this author's audio projects book, which is also very good.

Another thing that really impressed me about this book is that the author answers his email. I had a question about a modification I wanted to make to one of his designs, and he gave me a very detailed answer, and even sent me part numbers that would be appropriate for the task.

If you're setting out to learn electronics - this is definitely the book you want :)

Basic Electronics, 8th Edition, was a big dispointment. I used an earilier edition of Grob in high school. I hardly recognized the book that I received in the mail. Half of each page is given over to pictures that have little or nothing do with the text, and at more than $80 it is over priced. I would recommend "Practical Electronics of Inventors" by Scherz instead.

This is simply the best of all basic electronics books. It is easy to understand and will give you a solid background in all areas of basic electronics. There is no wonder why major colleges, trade schools and other learning institutions select this book as their basic electronics textbook. I recommend it highly.

I will recommend this book to every one interested on electronics and studying electronics at any level.
It is well presented and it has colour full pages makes it easier to understand. It is an excellent book for reference.

An interesting book if you are curious about executions. The book has some interesting details about Edison's personal life, but not to much about Westinghouse. Also, the book says very little about Tesla, who's inventions really enabled Westinghouse to overcome Edison's DC power and make AC power todays standard. Still the book is worth while for Edison fans and those who are interested in the history of execution technology.

I should raise a warning flag to start this review: if you are squeamish, or an animal lover, this book might be a bit too much for you. There are several horrific episodes involving detailed descriptions of botched executions, as well as descriptions of electrocution experiments performed on dogs, calves, and horses. Mr. Essig's intent is not to be sensationalistic. He wants to show us that when Thomas Edison said that death by electrocution would be quick and painless, he was engaging in wishful thinking. (At least to start with. After experiments on animals showed that this form of execution was not an exact science- nobody knew, really, what voltage to use or for how long; nor were they sure of how electricity killed - he may have stooped to being disingenuous. Edison thought alternating current was dangerous, plus he didn't like George Westinghouse. Westinghouse kept infringing on Edison's patents. Edison was pushing alternating current for use with the electric chair, to drive home to the public his belief that alternating current was too dangerous for commercial use.) This book works well on many levels. We see Edison trying to get alternating current used with the electric chair, while Westinghouse tries to fight back, via his lawyers, by showing execution via electrocution was messy and unreliable, and hence was "cruel and unusual punishment." The book is also good at describing the more general competition between Edison's direct current and Westinghouse's alternating current. It takes some careful reading, but you get to learn the advantages and disadvantages of both systems at that time, and how elbow grease and creativity were used to overcome some of the problems. Also, considering that this is not really a biography, Mr. Essig gives a pretty well-rounded portrait of Edison. He was pretty eccentric - for example, sleeping under a bench or on the floor of a closet at the Menlo Park laboratory - but he wasn't lacking in social skills. He was charming and witty and he was very good at promoting himself and his inventions. Like all interesting people, he was complex: when Edison's daughter told him she was writing a novel, Edison told her "that in the case of a marriage to put in bucketfulls [sic] of misery. This would make it realistic." However, after Edison's first wife (Mary) died at the age of 29, Edison - the supposed cynic, misogynist, and misogamist - quickly fell under the spell of the 19 year old Mina Miller, and didn't hesitate to marry her. The man who supposedly thought about his work 24 hours a day remarked that while walking through Boston he "got thinking about Mina and came near being run over by a street car." Regarding Edison's wit and sense of humor, the following is just one of many examples contained in the book: Edison bought his daughter Marion a pet parrot, but the bird never learned to speak. Edison complained that the bird had "the taciturnity of a statue, and the dirt producing capacity of a drove of Buffalo." One of the many things I learned from this book was that, contrary to popular belief, Edison never called execution by electricity being "Westinghoused." One of his lawyers came up with the expression for possible use in the public relations war between the two men. To Edison's credit, he rejected using the word as a synonym for electrocution. Other examples of areas this book explores are the work environment at Menlo Park (where the men would go out into the midnight darkness, accompanied by a dog holding a lantern between his teeth, to buy some food and beer to bring back to the workshop); the politics of the time (bribes being paid to either pass a bill to institute execution by electricity rather than hanging, or to kill such a bill); the fallibility of "experts" (who made uneducated guesses on how electrocution caused death, how much current to use, etc.); and the irresponsibility of the newspapers of the time (going from one extreme to the other in admiring or denigrating both Einstein and Westinghouse; calling the electric chair a wonderful and humane invention one moment and an awful example of barbarity the next). If the book has one fault, it is that Mr. Essig uses the battle between Edison and Westinghouse to slip in his personal opposition to capital punishment. I don't feel this falls within the scope of the story, and he should have resisted the urge to use the book as a soapbox. That being said, this is still a very well-written, well-researched, and fascinating book.

Today we all take electricity for granted. We pay monthly fees to large utility companies, and whenever we buy an electrical appliance we plug it in and it works. But we never think about the fact that as recently as the late 19th century, electricity in homes and businesses was a rarity. And it wasn't the government or large public companies who were rolling it out to communities across the US, but instead entrepreneurs like Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse competing to develop different types of electrical services and rushing to sign up as many customers as possible to their own companies' proprietary standards.

Perhaps the biggest rivalry in the electrical field was between Edison, who promoted his direct current system, a relatively low voltage system whose electricity could not be transmitted across a broad area without installing additional generators, and Westinghouse, whose alternating current systems allowed very high voltages to be transmitted across very large distances. No safety standards existed for the budding electric industry, so in an attempt to maintain his early business lead, Edison and his colleagues did what they could to publicize the dangers of allowing high voltage alternating current into people's homes and neighborhoods, and the relative safety of direct current.

The story of electricity in itself is a fascinating business story that parallels a lot of what we've seen in the late 20th century with the internet rush and the mad dash to roll out hundreds of ISPs, most of which have fallen by the wayside as saner business models prevail and the industry consolidates. The business ethics at the time leave a lot to be desired, not unlike the business ethics of the late 20th century.

But this engaging first-time author, Mark Essig, doesn't stop with the history of the electrical industry. He overlays the story of capital punishment into the picture. Humanists in the 19th century were debating whether the various methods used for capital punishment were humane. The use of electricity was raised as a possible painless alternative to hangings and other "barbaric" methods of killing criminals. Ironically, Edison promoted his rival Westinghouse's alternating current system as the perfect solution to the capital punishment dilemma, by stating that its dangerous system would instantly kill any criminals, not to mention thousands of regular consumers who might accidentally get in its way.

This book was a truly terrific mix of history and anecdotes about a very interesting period in history that still impacts us today and that has many parallels in modern day business. And while the book doesn't take sides on the capital punishment debate, it certainly raises a lot of interesting issues and is certain to cause a lot of discussion in that area as well.

I strongly recommend it.

I've been planning to write this review for quite the longest time. I first came across Dr Malvino via the 3rd edition of Electronic Principles. I happened to buy it for like 2$ at a library used book sale. I read the book and, almost magically, electronics, a subject I enjoyed but happened to be very weak in, made absolute sense. After this I bought the latest edition. Electronic Principles by Dr. Malvino is the greatest book on learning electronics. It has helped me master the field of electronics. Its a good book for beginners and a constant reference for advanced readers like myself. Especially as a university graduate I refer to the book constantly. Malvino was the only author who stresses Thevenin theorem's importance, which is true because it is everywhere in the book. He explains diodes, transitors including AC and DC equivalent circuits, with crystal clear clarity. For example, before reading Dr Malvino's book I had no clue how to calculate input and output impedance of ANY amplifier, after reading the book I can do these calculations. Malvino's clear explanations are excellent, and have helped me become an Electronics "wiz". Thank You Dr. Malvino for helping me learn a very beloved subject that was taught terribly to me in University, and probably many other Universities.
For the critics, sure its a beginners book, but if you know EVERY electronic concept Malvino writes about in the book and can prove it to me by writing it down on paper without referring to another book, then I'll accept your review of the book. And every discipline of humanity, from basketweaving, ballet, or electronics, is based upon solid principles. And Dr. Malvino has them all in his book, and builds upon them. I can't help you about Ballet or Basketweaving though :)
To the people who read the Pacific Northwesters review of this book and gives this book 1 star, and, sadly, suggests Thomas Floyd's books. Sincerely I say do not listen to this Pacific Northwesterner. To this critic I say this, your review uses such big words like Non-Absolutism. Non-Absolutism did not affect Dr. Malvino's abilty to explain electronics clearly. The issue of "epistemology" you babble about, and the "subversion of the learning process" I ask you this, why do so many people (including myself) learn electronics from Dr. Malvino's books? That is a true philosophical question for you to ponder. Now about books from Thomas Floyd, his books on electronics are "Electronic Devices" and "Electronics Fundamentals" Finding these books on Amazon and reading customer reviews you notice a few things. First you will not find 10 customers giving ratings of 4 stars or higher, maybe 2 customers at the most. And you'll see the usual bad comments like "their were many mistakes in the text" or "this book explains stuff terribly" or the best comment, "I hate this guy's books", these comments are death when you want to learn something well. So Pacific Northwest Person, maybe you have a personal beef with the author, nobody has argued with you because we silently read our copy of "Electronic Principles" knowing we have the best book available on the subject.
So, yeah its an AWESOME book!!

"Electronic Principles" covers mostly semiconductors; diodes, transistors, FET's, oscillators, op-amps, etc. This book is for the person who already knows basic AC/DC. This is a technician level book used by colleges and trade schools. Only basic algebra is needed to understand this book, no calculus. Malvino is the most gifted writer of electronics that I have ever come across. The first edition of this book was used by my college where I graduated with a degree in electronics in 1976. Since then I have owned the fourth and fifth edition as reference. Malvino has a rare gift for explaining technical material. His writing is both technical and personal and the same time. Thank you Albert Paul Malvino for teaching me 90% of what I know about semiconductors. No other electronics author comes close to your gift of making technical material understandable.

Electronic Principles, Second Edition, was my textbook in college in the late-70's/early 80's. It was great then, and it's great now. I updated my library with the Sixth Edition a few years ago and I feel just as rewarded as I had when I first learned the subject through the Second.

I design electronic circuits sporadically -- I'm mainly a programmer and writer by trade -- and I need periodic reminders of the theory and math involved in designing and solving circuits. Malvino was and continues to be my main source, along with The Art of Electronics by Horowitz and Hill and Calculus for Electronics by Richmond.

Thank you, Dr. Malvino!

I had to put my bits in to complement all the great reviews. Gibilisco indeed does a fantastic job introducing all of the basic concepts of electricity and electronics. The first two parts (550+ pages) are exemplary in their treatment of electronic components. I finally understood how to analyze an LRC circuit!!

The second two parts, however, are not nearly as helpful. Perhaps it's because the topics become too complex for the simple presentations use in the first half, but I found the sections on Basic and Advanced Electronics (the last 250+ pages) to be little more than a cursory overview of various components and uses. Good as a very basic introduction, but little practical value.

Overall, I enjoyed reading the book and learned a great deal from the first half. The second parts were interesting but less useful.

This is the only book on electronics I've read that I didn't have to use another book as a reference for. The author starts off assuming the reader is new to electronics and doesn't forget that as he introduces new topics; most authors at some point start talking in techspeak without explanation or zoom ahead to get to their favorite topic; this one doesn't. He explains topics one at a time, without zooming from electrons to transdimensional quark theory. The book starts with electricity, what it is, what it does, how its behavior relates to electronics, and he introduces the various components, circuits, and ideas one at a time. It is not intended to be a circuit design or hobby book; but this is the one to read before progressing to those books, because they will not guide you through the concepts like this author does. By the end of it, you will confidently be able to go onto a more advanced book. My only quibble with the book is that he sometimes does not go into a subject in enough technical detail, but for that Basic Electronics course by Norman Crowhurst is a nice complement. You don't need it as a reference, but it goes more into technically advanced explanations on certain concepts/circuits. (But doesn't explain things as clearly for the beginner as Gibilisco does.) If you're looking for ONE book that covers it all perfectly, you won't find it. But this is the best beginning book I've found.

This book is like a complete course in electricity and basic electronics. Just read a few pages a day and practice the basic equations and you'll gain an excellent understanding of electronics in just a few weeks. This book would make an excellent suplementary textbook to use in a technical school or college.

This great book goes deep into the art of mechanics and electronics. Robot Builder's Bonanza thoroughly and simply explains the materals, process, and trouble shooting of robotics.
This book explained many new things in ways I could understand. This book is a great introduction into robotics and electronics. It has many projects which I am working on some of. Robot Builder's Bonanza explains how to make anything from sensors to drive systems and tells you good sorces for the materials. This book is a wonderful reference guide for all sorts of things. So I urge you to buy this fantastic book!!!

This great book goes deep into the art of mechanics and electronics. Robot Builder's Bonanza thoroughly and simply explains the materals, process, and trouble shooting of robotics.
This book explained many new things in ways I could understand. This book is a great introduction into robotics and electronics. It has many projects which I am working on some of. Robot Builder's Bonanza explains how to make anything from sensors to drive systems and tells you good sorces for the materials. This book is a wonderful reference guide for all sorts of things. So I urge you to buy this fantastic book!!

This great book goes deep into the art of mechanics and electronics. Robot Builder's Bonanza thoroughly and simply explains the materals, process, and trouble shooting of robotics.
This book explained many new things in ways I could understand. This book is a great introduction into robotics and electronics. It has many projects which I am working on some of. Robot Builder's Bonanza explains how to make anything from sensors to drive systems and tells you good sorces for the materials. This book is a wonderful reference guide for all sorts of things. So I urge you to buy this fantastic book!...

I have little UNIX or Solaris experience, so for me this book provided a spotty overview of the Solaris 8 O/S. It didn't provide an overall perspective of Solaris, tying all the pieces together to form a complete picture. It would have been great if the authors listed out the applications that come with Solaris (there are a truck load); it would have been even better if they detailed some of them. For those of us that don't have time to read through an author's opinions, this text leaves much to be desired.

Great Book for beginner's and a Excellent reference for Pro's.
The chapter to chapter sequence is just right for the topic(Solaris).

Hi

If you have basic Unix knowledge and If you want learn to how to manage a Solaris box, you have to buy it.

Good introduction for Solaris Administration.

Regards