Make: Electronics, 2e (Make: Technology on Your Time)

This is the third book aiming at beginners that I have read and by far the best. The writing style is that of somebody explaining it to you in plain and simple English yet it still somehow manages to be very technical and interesting. Would highly recommend this book to anybody new to electronics we are looking to refresh some basic knowledge. The emphasis in this book is through reading and then experimenting with real life circuits and equipment. In disregard there are many different circuits to experiment with. Something for everyone you would hope! There is also a very handy little section around soldering technique and explaining certain integrated circuits and types of equipment. Excellent balance of text, pictures and schematics with reference to useful equipment and good examples. The books use of colour is also particularly good in that it aids the diagrams and pictures to be clear and detailed more than other books I have read in this range. This book has truly inspired me😁… now all I need is more time to create my own circuits!

This is my favourite textbook of all time. I am someone with 0 prior experience in electronics and it has been a joy to work my way through the various experiments with Mr. Platt as my teacher. This book's intention is to get your hands dirty and to focus on the intuition and application rather than, say, working your way through differential equations. So while this book won't help you derive the time constant formula for calculating the speed at which a capacitor charges, it will tell you what the formula is, how to use it, and make you set up some real circuits where you can see this in practice and motivate you to see how understanding this would be useful in real world applications. This is definitely teaching at its best. I feel this is a book the author really enjoyed writing (I could be wrong, of course, but it really does seem like a real labour of love). It's just so well-executed: well-structured, well-written, detailed, thoughtful, and with the odd bit of humour every now and again. You will get the most out of this book if you work your way through the experiments -- but this will involve some non-trivial sum of money. As a UK resident, I spent around a total of 150-200 pounds sourcing the supplies for all 30+ experiments (including a mid-range soldering iron, multimeter, etc). I'm sure I could have shaved down the costs somewhat, but I find it hard to see it costing less than 100 pounds if you're starting from scratch like I did. I used a combination of farnells and amazon and probably spent around 3 hours putting together my shopping baskets of individually sourced items. The book has a US-bias so most of the suppliers listed are US-based. There are kits available, but most of these seem to ship from the US so the shipping charges can be steep. Having recently completed this book I am now going to reward myself with Make:More Electronics!

This book is absolutely brilliant, it is so well written and enjoyable to read. It takes a step by step approach and leaves nothing to chance, it is well presented with lovely colour diagrams which are easy to follow and well explained. For anyone starting out in electronics I would highly recommend this book it is well worth every penny.

Its a nice book, very clear, but please be warned that the parts you have to get to complete the projects will end up costing you over £100 if you don't have them already.

This is a really well written, well structured book aimed at people like me that have, at best, a passing knowledge of electronics. I couldn't have asked for anything more from this: a well pitched mixture of fundamentals, a little history, and most importantly, great practical experiments. These aren't just childish experiments either. You do start small in a way that reenforces the required basics but move on quickly to more complex examples that build on those. As the reader you are expected to 'learn by doing' and test-as-you-go through the examples. This means you can get your hands dirty pretty quickly and see for yourself what's actually happening. 'What happens if you do this? Well lets find out!'. This approach feels very intuitive and rewarding. You get a real sense of achievement. You'll obviously need some supplies to work with. These are explained in an early chapter along with a 'Bill of Materials' style appendix which is laid out in an easy to understand way along with places to look for them. So if you're new to electronics, or have a passing interest you want to expand on or consolidate then this is the one for you. There's also a follow up to this that I will definitely be buying.

This is one of the best books I have ever read where the author explains the topics in a fun and logical way. I wish maths books were written in the same style as this book. The colourful diagrams and photos are clear and detailed. The instructions on how to use a multimeter were just what I needed. The author's style of writing just flow so well that what he is says just sinks in straight away. He is also very modest about is abilities in electronics, as I believe if all technical books were as detailed and colourful as this one, studying would be more fun.

I just could not get into this. The first few pages/chapters about acquiring equipment are OK, but for the rest of the DIY projects, you might as well get a more serious book on electronics or search for circuits on the web.

This book is great if you are new to electronics and need somewhere to start! I didn't know the first thing about electronics and this book goes through it in a logical way and encourages you to think about the process as you are going through it. The experiments are well thought out and ordered in a logical fashion. The book layout is okay. I would say that it could improve by having the schematic diagrams and the breadboard diagrams on the same page to save you having to flick from one page to another when trying to understand a circuit you've constructed, this however is a small point and doesn't take away from the books overall brilliance. Couldn't recommend this enough.

Es un libro maravilloso. En esta obra de arte vas a encontrar una medida mezcla entre práctica y teoría que da como resultado un equilibrio entre la diversión de jugar con los componentes y el entendimiento de los conceptos que están detrás de ellos. Yo me inclino un poco más hacia el entendimiento de los conceptos, me atrae algo más, y he de decir q estos son explicados increíblemente bien; yo no tengo ninguna experiencia en el ámbito de la electrónica, simplemente sentía curiosidad, y este libro me ha hecho entender todos los conceptos de esta gracias a unas genuinas explicaciones que son claras, concisas y asequibles para cualquier público. Como menciono en el título, uno de los aspectos más destacables que tiene este libro es que no te deja a la intemperie, con esto quiero decir que Charles Platt en su obra indica y da consejo sobre qué adquirir a la hora de introducirse en el mundo de la electrónica ya que, como puede ser obvio, los novatos nos encontramos muy perdidos en el inmenso mundo de componentes existentes.

This really is a great book for getting started in electronics. The book is well designed. Diagrams and pictures are beautiful to look at. Charles Platt has gone to the effort of creating a book that empowers the brand new hobbyist to start building right away. He explains things very well and avoids technical theory and math. Yes, some of the experiments are corny, like electronic jewelry, and an intrusion alarm. But, with creativity and imagination, other applications can be found for such experiments. You'll learn a lot, very quickly. You don't even have to "bread-board" the experiments. You can read through the book and come away with an understanding of the experiments. That is something I totally didn't expect. This book deserves 5 stars. A beginner should buy it. Still, here are a few minor criticisms. The section on soldering was long, but I suppose, necessary for a complete newb. The biggest annoyance however, is buying parts (parts list at back of book). In short, if you bought all the parts for the whole book: maybe you'll spend up to $1000. I'm not kidding. (Pre-assembled parts kits is a topic addressed in the book. I won't digress.) What I really recommend to cut parts-cost is look for the multi-packs of parts (available on Amazon). For example, search for "Elenco Capacitor Kit" Elenco 100 Capacitor Component Kit Get yourself, a multi-value kit of: resistors, transistors, capacitors. Buy yourself jumper wires: SODIAL(R) 65PCS Male to Male Solderless Breadboard Jumper Cable and some 100 5mm Red Green Blue Yellow White LED Light Bulb Lamp and a couple breadboards Solderless Breadboard Bread Board 830 Tie Points Contacts A multi-voltage select ac/dc adapter is a great cheap alternative to buying a "power supply" See this: InstallerParts 500mA Universal AC/DC Adapter -- Adjustable DC 3 / 4.5 / 6 / 7.5 / 9 / 12V Output Amazon really does have an awesome selection of discrete components (electronic parts). Shipping from Hong Kong could take you three weeks, but the prices are FANTASTIC! Hopefully this should be good to get started building a few circuits from Platt's book. You'll seriously cut parts costs....unlike me,at first, as I went to buy this stuff from a local store. Leave it to your local store for those few extra specific parts you need (a potentiometer, trimmer etc.) And yes, getting started with obtaining electronics parts can be a little frustrating. Be prepared for that. I'd hate to see someone get disappointed by that. One last tip, aside from this book. Don't forget to tear apart old electronics (printers, scanners, actually kid's toys are the best). You can salvage so many free parts this way, especially switches, motors, and LEDs. This is an hilariously cheap (perhaps free) and fun aspect of this hobby; salvaging parts.

Il miglior libro che abbia mai letto per chi vuole avvicinarsi al mondo dell'elettronica. Si impara la teoria attraverso esercitazioni pratiche spiegate molto bene. Il libro è pieno di foto e disegni per veicolare meglio i concetti esposti. Scritto in inglese.

Thoroughly enjoyed it, 1. This is the best book in my opinion if you want to start learning electronics by building circuits yourself. 2. Starts from complete basics, so there are no prerequisites. 3. The book does not cover vast range of topics like other books (Practical electronics for inventors or art of electronics) do, but you will need to have quite a bit of experience to implement the circuits from those books, as they will not go into detail about actually building those circuits (no hands-on approach) as they are more of a textbook. If you are considering to go for this book - You would need to buy a few electronics test instruments, tools and components to make the circuits yourself. In India, do not go for Amazon or any other big online retailer to buy "electronic components", they are very limited and overpriced. Just search "electronics components online stores India" and go for any store you like. Experience with offline retailers may vary for everyone, it would be easier to find offline shops if you are from a big city with industries nearby, otherwise just go for online shops.\

Great Book. Very easy to read and a lot of fun! I would recommend it to anyone wanting to start working with electronics.