Make: Electronics: Learning by Discovery: A hands-on primer for the new electronics enthusiast
by: Charles Platt (0)
Learning by Discovery is a system developed by Charles Platt to enable an experience that is fascinating, fun, and memorable. You learn by building your own circuits--and by making your own mistakes.
In fact, mistakes are an important part of the experience. The book encourages you to "burn things out and mess things up" to find out for yourself the limits of electronic components. You'll blow a fuse and watch an overloaded LED, and you can cut open a relay to see how it works inside.
Affordable Component Kits are available from independent suppliers (on Amazon), or the book explains how to shop online yourself.
Illustrations are in full color throughout, so you'll see exactly what you need and how to use it.
While Make: Electronics minimizes the amount of theory that you need, it does show you how to figure out Ohm's Law and do the simple math to calculate the time constant of a capacitor.
A buying guide shows basic tools ranging from pliers to a low cost multimeter. A simple "finger test" demonstrates how transistors switch or amplify current. You can solder wires, if you wish, to build a permanent circuit, although soldering is not necessary to build all the circuits in the book.
You'll see how to use integrated circuit chips to create a simple circuit that tests the speed of your reflexes. Other circuits include a combination lock for a computer, or a game in which players compete to be the first to press a button.
All the basic concepts are demonstrated quickly and simply with affordable components. You'll discover resistance, capacitance, voltage, amperage, inductance, and the relationship between electricity and magnetism.
Ideal for Beginners
This book assumes that you have no prior knowledge. It explains each concept in meticulous detail, and is friendly, patient, and fun. Positive reader feedback has been received from people ranging in age from 8 to 84. If you only buy one book about electronics, this should be the one.
The Reviews
The schematics are difficult to read because no component values are given. The components are labeled R3, C1, Q4, etc, and there is no corresponding list of component values. The component values are shown only on the proto board.The book recommends soldering components on perf boards for final construction. No mention is ever made of wire wrapping which is just as good and perhaps better.In my opinion, the age range (9 - 17 yrs) is too young. I started learning about electricity in junior high school, and I taught electrical engineering for over 30 years. I would not want to start learning with this book.
I ordered this book after buying a "build your own digital clock kit" because I wanted practice soldering (I am an electrician and its one skill that I never tackled). I obviously do have a background in electricity but I feel he explains it very well for someone who does not, it may not be a good book for someone under the age of 12 though. Anyways I ordered it after being curious of the components in the kit I had made, very glad that I did because I ended up reading the book in two days, then ordered the this third edition as soon as it came out. Everything is extremely well explained, also with some interesting history of things mixed in. I felt most of the projects were useful and made most of them myself. After this book showed me the things I could actually do (never thought it was in my ability to make electronics) I have been doing a lot of little projects for myself and learned about Arduino (which is also talked about in the book). Bottom line: If you are interested in making (or modifying) electronics this is the best book I have read to get going on it (I have got other books since that seem to focus too much on the math to get someone interested).
This book explains electrical in an easy to understand way, with step by step instructions on how to do it and verify yourself. It has awesome diagrams, schematics and drawings. I love this book! It's helped me understand the 555 timer in particular, in a way that other books and material fell flat.
The book itself is very good. However, the projects detailed in the book require purchase of several electronic components, not all of which are available in one store. You can buy the entire kit from a particular source but I found the markup on their price hard to justify.
Step by step explanation of electronics; easy to follow; great drawings; lots of simple projects; all with a light hearted, friendly voice
I really enjoy this book, everything is presented clearly and is easy to follow along.
I just started reading the book ,I like the way this Author writes a book
This is another outstanding electronics book by Charles Platt. Mr. Platt has the unique ability to make learning electronics fun. He does this by combining lots of hands on activities, and the reader learns by doing. This method is superior when compared to the usual boring electronics theory books. Don't worry if his books are age appropriate for you because his books are aimed at people of all ages. I am 52 and I recently became interested in learning electronics. His books are perfect for young and old alike. All that's needed is an interest in learning electronics, and Mr. Platt will take it from there!
I bought this 1) because I've wanted it for a while, and 2) it was half price. Now I know why. The cover is for the book I wanted. The guts of the book are not.
This is the place to start if you're wanting to learn electronics. Step by step walkthroughs are explained well enough that they are easy to understand & follow along with. Writers experience comes through. I'm using this to take my Arduino skills beyond the starter kit.
This latest update of the classic book has clear illustrations and lucid explanations.
Still going through this book. If you are patient you can buy the parts needed for about half the cost of the kits.
