A textbook that’s worth it.
Is there one? My answer would be “no” if I wasn’t introduced to “Art of Electronics” by Horowitz and Hill. It’s probably the only textbook that I’ve ever used in my entire life that has struck a chord with me. For the $70-odd that it costs @ Amazon, it’s well worth the price. It’s interesting that a book that hasn’t been revised since 1989 has garnered such good reviews, and still continues to impress. Compared to the Alexander & Sadiku’s Fundamentals of Electric Circuits, which my professor prescribed, Art of Electronics is off the shiznit. My only regret is not coming across it earlier.
The only reason why I like the textbook is that it aims to explain how circuits are designed and used in the real world. The book emphasizes real world scenarios, and even though it’s only been less than a day since I’ve been using it, I’ve started to understand some things that I never even thought about before. It puts things in a different perspective that seems to be more in-line with circuit analysis, rather than a bunch of formulas, theories and theorems.
Another book that I really liked was University Physics (I forget the author’s name). The fact that they split each problem into “Analysis,” “Solution,” and “Understanding” really helped. And as with any good book, I discovered it only when it’s too late.
If anyone ever reads this post (hah, like that’s gonna happen), do give the Art of Electronics and University Physics a shot. Maybe it’ll help understand the problem as a whole, concepts and all.
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