{"id":730,"date":"2008-12-08T08:00:36","date_gmt":"2008-12-08T16:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/?p=730"},"modified":"2022-12-28T12:12:51","modified_gmt":"2022-12-28T20:12:51","slug":"the-greatest-electronics-book-ever-written","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/2008\/12\/the-greatest-electronics-book-ever-written\/","title":{"rendered":"The greatest electronics book ever written?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Getting<\/p>\n

Getting Started in Electronics<\/a>\"\", by Forrest M. Mims, III.<\/a> is a spectacular introduction to the world of electronics.\u00a0 This book is not new – the truth is that it has changed little since it’s first release in 1983.\u00a0 Despite this, twenty-five years later, there is really nothing else like it.\u00a0 This book is suitable for beginners of any age yet it comprehensively describes the technical theory and practical use of electronic devices like resistors, capacitors, inductors, diodes, transistors, FETs (including the now-rare JFET<\/a>), and LEDs, as well as circuits like amplifiers, oscillators, and logic gates.\u00a0 There is even a graphical introduction to device physics (semiconductor materials, doping, electrons and holes) and semiconductor fabrication!\u00a0 This is kind of stuff they teach third-year students in university<\/a> ECE<\/a> classes<\/a>, written in a way that is understandable to a child in third grade!<\/p>\n

The entire book is formatted like an engineering notebook with handwritten notes on every page.\u00a0 The illustrations are fun and make the book friendly and accessible. \u00a0\u00a0 Here is an excerpt from the chapter on diodes:<\/p>\n

\"Getting<\/p>\n

My father gave me this book when I was six or seven years old along with a 25 watt soldering iron from Radio Shack.\u00a0 I am convinced that this book, together with a Science Fair 160-in-ONE kit<\/a>, is what caused me to pursue a career in Electrical Engineering.\u00a0 I still enjoy leafing through its pages and proving to myself that I can understand how each circuit works.<\/p>\n

Forrest Mims<\/a> himself is an interesting individual and has led a prolific career as a writer and amateur scientist.\u00a0 He is an active member of the Society for Amateur Scientists<\/a> (SAS) and edits the Citizen Scientist<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The book even includes a handy guide to help you learn How to Solder!<\/p>\n

\"Getting<\/p>\n

Thankfully, it turns out that this fantastic book is still in print<\/a>\"\". The groovy green cover is gone (a mistake, in my opinion), but the contents have not changed.\u00a0 This is fantastic news for anyone interested in learning about electronics.\u00a0 These also make great Christmas presents – I bought one for my brother last year and he loved it!<\/p>\n

In my opinion, this is probably the greatest introductory book about electronics ever written.\u00a0 I’d be curious to hear if anyone has any other favorites – leave a comment if you do!<\/p>\n

Happy 25th, Getting Started in Electronics!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Getting Started in Electronics, by Forrest M. Mims, III. is a spectacular introduction to the world of electronics.\u00a0 This book is not new – the truth is that it has changed little since it’s first release in 1983.\u00a0 Despite this, twenty-five years later, there is really nothing else like it.\u00a0 This book is suitable for … Continue reading The greatest electronics book ever written?<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":729,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[40,5],"tags":[132,504,501,109,64],"class_list":["post-730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books-and-resources","category-electronics","tag-books","tag-books-and-resources","tag-electronics","tag-forrest-mims","tag-radio-shack"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/800992c008a05e890ff94010l.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pioCd-bM","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1080,"url":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/2009\/02\/forrest-mims-engineers-mini-notebooks\/","url_meta":{"origin":730,"position":0},"title":"Forrest Mims Engineer’s Mini-Notebooks","author":"Jeff","date":"February 17, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"I previously posted about Forrest M. Mims III's Getting Started in Electronics, one of the best books out there for someone who wants a thorough, yet unintimidating introduction to electronic components and circuits. From the mid-1980's through the late 1990's, Forrest Mims also published several mini-notebooks, each dedicated to a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Books and Resources"","block_context":{"text":"Books and Resources","link":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/category\/books-and-resources\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Engineer's Mini-Notebook","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/51iveq6oql_ss500_.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3655,"url":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/2011\/02\/surplusgizmos\/","url_meta":{"origin":730,"position":1},"title":"SurplusGizmos","author":"Jeff","date":"February 17, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"While I was visiting Portland last month, I made a quick stop at\u00a0SurplusGizmos in Hillsboro. SurplusGizmos is what an electronics store should be, and it's the kind of place that I love to visit. \u00a0It's also the kind of electronics store that is completely nonexistant in Austin (oh, my beloved\u00a0HSC,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Electronics"","block_context":{"text":"Electronics","link":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/category\/electronics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"SurplusGizmos","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mightyohm.com\/files\/flickr\/5439327183_2955aa7d1b.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":736,"url":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/2008\/12\/horowitz-and-hill-the-art-of-electronics\/","url_meta":{"origin":730,"position":2},"title":"Horowitz and Hill: The Art of Electronics","author":"Jeff","date":"December 4, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"The Art of Electronics, by Horowitz and Hill, has been referred to by some as the electronics bible.\u00a0 Within its 1125 pages are everything from a \"what is a resistor?\" level introduction to passive and active circuits to a thorough treatment of op-amps, phased locked loops, logic family interfacing, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Books and Resources"","block_context":{"text":"Books and Resources","link":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/category\/books-and-resources\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"http:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=mightyohm-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0521370957","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2924,"url":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/2010\/04\/surplus-electronics-wiki-growing-fast\/","url_meta":{"origin":730,"position":3},"title":"Surplus Electronics Wiki Growing Fast","author":"Jeff","date":"April 7, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"The past few weeks have seen a lot of activity on the MightyOhm Wiki! Since it was mentioned on the Make: blog last week, helpful readers have been making significant contributions every day. One highlight of the wiki is the Surplus Electronics Resources page, which I first posted about in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Amateur Radio"","block_context":{"text":"Amateur Radio","link":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/category\/amateur-radio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/wiki-375x500.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2621,"url":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/2010\/02\/announcing-the-mightyohm-com-wiki\/","url_meta":{"origin":730,"position":4},"title":"Announcing the MightyOhm.com Wiki","author":"Jeff","date":"February 2, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I am pleased to announce that the MightyOhm Wiki is now online and open to the public. While there isn't a ton of content yet, my hope is that the wiki will become a useful means to share information and resources relevant to the site.\u00a0 At the moment, there are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Books and Resources"","block_context":{"text":"Books and Resources","link":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/category\/books-and-resources\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/wiki-375x500.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5807,"url":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/2015\/02\/cool-tools-adafruit-edition\/","url_meta":{"origin":730,"position":5},"title":"Cool Tools: Adafruit Edition","author":"Jeff","date":"February 9, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"SMT\/SMD Resistor and Capacitor Books This\u00a00805 SMD resistor and capacitor book\u00a0is just like the ones sold on eBay and just as useful. 0603's are here. Blank books and pages are here. 65 Piece Ratchet Screwdriver and Tool Bit Set This 65 piece ratcheting screwdriver set is a bit nicer than\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Books and Resources"","block_context":{"text":"Books and Resources","link":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/category\/books-and-resources\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/829-00.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/829-00.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/829-00.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/829-00.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/730","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=730"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/730\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15816,"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/730\/revisions\/15816"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=730"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=730"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=730"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}