“The ART of Electronics”, by Horowitz and Hill

[Mash]

“The ART of Electronics”,

by Paul Horowitz of Harvard University, and
Winfred Hill of the Rowland Institute for Science, Cambridge, Ma.

Cambridge University Press

$53.95 from Bookpool.com, Basic USPS shipping at no charge.

The “Basic USPS Shipping” was quoted as 10 to 15 days but my copy arrived in 5 days.

The good news is that this book offers 1038 very readable pages, plus the very useful and readable Appendices A through K.

There is a tiny amount of undergraduate math that is easily absorbed, but the authors also offer an easy work-around for anyone who is math-phobic.

An ongoing debate here involved some heat about ‘time domain’ and ‘frequency domain’. These terms are used in passing on page 23 but without any particular emphasis, that is, they are not presented as earth-shaking revelations. My previous thesaurus definitions for ‘domain’ would explain why. Simply put, for example, time domain is where voltage varies with time. One example is a circuit ‘voltage decay with time’ function. No big whoops here.

This ‘latest edition’ is c1989 so many computer component capability references are clearly dated. The text intended to promote the understanding of various forms of computers is quite enlightening.

Wires and I/C are not specifically presented. Therefore, we have no basis for understanding the overarching expertise required for the proper selection of speaker wire and I/C. The Audio Review Moderators must bring this gross omission to the attention of Paul Horowitz and Winfred Hill. However, there are some attempts at redemption. Section 7.11, for example, does discuss noise. Johnson noise, for example, occurs in resistors, and wires offer resistance. Johnson noise is a function of the square root of [Boltzmann’s constant times the absolute temperature times the bandwidth in Hz]. So be sure to refrigerate your wires.

Examples of good and bad circuit topographies are presented, which helps the reader to acquire many "good circuit topography" insights.

As noted before, this is a very easy book to read, and therefore you can find straightforward explanations to many questions you may have about electronic, or electrical, circuits and components. Read and enjoy!

[RobotCzar]

“The ART of Electronics”,

by Paul Horowitz of Harvard University, and
Winfred Hill of the Rowland Institute for Science, Cambridge, Ma.

An ongoing debate here involved some heat about ‘time domain’ and ‘frequency domain’. These terms are used in passing on page 23 but without any particular emphasis, that is, they are not presented as earth-shaking revelations. My previous thesaurus definitions for ‘domain’ would explain why. Simply put, for example, time domain is where voltage varies with time. One example is a circuit ‘voltage decay with time’ function. No big whoops here.

Thanks for the review. Excuse me if say that I still have a problem with your definition (which I point out does not depend on phase, which the high enders try to say). You say time domain is when voltage "varies over time". But, with a constant AC sine signal, voltage is varying over time. It is important to be clear about the definition as "time domain" has been adopted as one of the "issues" of the high end. The concept of the time domain, as I remember it, deals with characteristics of the initial rise of a signal (or fall from being driven by a potential). The circuit cannot respond instantaneously to an imposed voltage potential so there is a period of adjustment. The point for audio, is that this time period is very short in comparison to signals carrying audio content (i.e. those with a frequency less than 20 KHz).

This topic stretches my memory, but it is important to get these concepts correct or you end up with people claiming audio specs do not deal with the time domain, etc. If there really are problems with the "time domain" then distortion will rise at high frequencies when the rise time of the signal approaches that of the circuit. It is a good idea to check the dynamic distortion of an amp you are considering by looking at how distortion (e.g., THD) rises at high frequencies. Let me end by pointing out that higher distortion at high frequencies does not mean audible distortion at high frequencies--that depends on on how much distortion there is.