(Part 2) Best electrical & electronics books according to redditors
We found 1,080 Reddit comments discussing the best electrical & electronics books. We ranked the 417 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the products ranked 21-40. You can also go back to the previous section.
The book is pretty good for a highly theoretical treatment of the subject. I had S&S for two semesters and it went fine. However for the practical aspects of circuit design, you need something like Practical Electronics for Inventors.
Also, a pretty good book on microelectronics is Fundamentals of Microelectronics by Behzad Razavi
I would recommend Nonlinear Systems by Khalil
​
https://www.amazon.com/Nonlinear-Systems-3rd-Hassan-Khalil/dp/0130673897/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=hassan+khalil&qid=1550277980&s=books&sr=1-1
I took the exam less than a month ago and passed it. It's not hard enough to warrant purchasing two study books. It's enough to just buy one book that has practice problems and solutions. I used this book to study. Above all else, you need to be familiar with the FE handbook provided on the NCEES website (it's exactly what you'll be using in the test).
Yeah, I was going to joke that you make it infinitely long. Power/torque is proportional to L*D^2 so the longer you make it, the more you'll get out of it. Practically speaking, you don't want your length to be more than about 2-4X your rotor OD for manufacturability.
Here are two good books for learning about motor design, neither will really tell you how to actually select the geometry of the laminations or the winding configuration. Speed is a good piece of software for analyzing that. Maxwell is also good, but that is going to be out of the price range for individuals.
I was thinking about using Designing Analog Chips by Hans Camenzind along with The Art of Electronics by Paul Horowitz as a guide for projects to do. I also recognize its important to know to design digital electronics (even though it may not necessarily be my strength) and know how to do research if I do end up doing the PhD so I was also looking into these books: link 1, link 2, and link 3. Are there any other books I should look into?
That is a FANTASTIC reference book. Keep it forever because it will always be useful. IMHO, he doesn't even make an attempt to teach anything with that book, but it has earned a place on my bookshelf next to Paul, and Rhode&Schwartz's book on VNAs.
I'm loathed to recommend Balanis because I had so much trouble with that book, but it did cover waveguides reasonably well. Or at least, I think he covered waveguides better than he did boundary conditions and incident reflections.
In the end I wound up reading about 4 textbooks to get a good understanding during my first graduate EM course. I don't recall which they were anymore but I'm pretty sure all but Balanis were openly published and could be found again. I believe that I found one of the ones that I used under MIT's open courseware.
>Do I have to take an exam as part of getting the license?
Yes. The first license is the foundation license and all you have to do is read a book with some fairly basic things to understand, complete some informal practical assessments and then sit the short multiple-choice question paper. I did it when I was 15 by reading the book, completing some mock tests at hamtests.co.uk and then contacting a club to complete the practicals and sit the exam.
I've used Fundamentals of Microelectronics by Behzad Razavi and I thought it did a great job. I've also followed up with his book on analog CMOS IC design in more advanced courses. I unfortunately don't have any recommendations for comms textbooks.
As far as software goes, there are a few basics you should learn: matlab, a scripting language (python, perl, or tcl depending on where you go and what you do), and enough C programming to get by, or a lot of C programming if you go into embedded systems. You will also want to develop a familiarity with linux, especially when it comes to using ssh and a shell in general (shell scripting is a plus). People will argue left and right about matlab vs. numpy+scipy but realistically it's not hard to learn both, and as a student you likely have access to matlab through your school, so the cost is a non-issue. Matlab remains a de facto standard, and python is gaining popularity.
A lot of this stuff just sort of comes up incidentally in coursework, but I really think the linux fluency is something that is overlooked by many. Knowing how to use version control (learn git, everything else has feature parity or is simpler), knowing how to edit from a command line (it barely matters if it's vim, nano, or emacs, you just need to know how to open a file and make some changes without spending time trying to scp files around or googling how to use the editors, if you're in a hurry), and knowing how to perform basic tasks like renaming files or folders, which I've seen other grad students struggle with, are all pretty important. I've considered putting together some key points on this, along with software to understand how to use to improve your effectiveness, which I'd be willing to do up in the next week or so if there's interest.
Fundamentals of Electric Circuits https://www.amazon.com/dp/0078028221/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_8CcgAbXJ1MZGB
That's the one we use for my class and its helped me a ton
Here you go.
It's the usual story.
A medical professional asks himself an interesting question: Why can newts regenerate limbs, but not humans? He ventures outside his area of expertise, which is medicine, towards biology and gets hung up on a long obsolete theory.
When people try to point that out to him, it's too late: He is sure that his pet theory is right and digs himself into an impenetrable defensive position.
Pointing out flaws in his methods, becomes scientists attacking him as a person. Funding cuts because of flawed research, become an attack of the establishment against him as a person. Competition for funding becomes backbiting by his peers because they can't stand that he is right...
Are you looking for low-level info (ie how do motors and drives work) or higher level ( how do you take off the shelf units to combine them into a system)?
If the first, Electric Motors and Drives by Austin Hughes and Bill Drury. If the second, any drive manufacturer’s manuals should be more than sufficient.
pocket ref
I found the book "Practical Electronics for Inventors" to be very helpful explaining things when I was getting started. It starts from results and metaphors and then introduces theory. Sort of the opposite of a lot of textbooks that are theory oriented and light on practical uses and metaphorical explanations of components.
With that book and some Arduinos I have gone on to fame (well my mom thinks I am famous) and fortune (I am a hundred-aire!) selling electronics I design and program.
The Art of Electronics
The Art of Electronics Student Manual
The Arcade Manual Archive
PINBALL MACHINE MANUALS
The Foundation morse is just an "appreciation" practical - the instructor slowly pounds out some short messages with a morse key and speaker, and you write down the dots and dashes, then translate to English by looking them up in the booklet. You can't pass or fail.
IMO this is not the ideal treatment of morse, which should really be learned at 20wpm, but the point of the practical is to teach you morse, or test you on it - it's more like a primary school-level show-and-tell, "this is what morse is, kids".
The Foundation license is more or less a participation prize - you near-literally cannot fail.
2m and 70cm with handhelds doesn't really need much more regulation than CB's or PMR radio, and the syllabus reflects that - IMO the point is to make you feel like you've taken the first step, and to make newcomers who are nervous or apprehensive feel like they've "passed" something and so they know they can do it. With the foundation license you're allowed to use these frequencies, mostly the local repeaters, but unlike CB or PMR you have to call using your official Ofcom-issued callsign, making you feel like a grownup and "a real ham".
IMO there's no point in studying independently for the Foundation - the syllabus is so dumbed down you might even learn the wrong answers. My club have been classes for years, and the only guy who ever failed revealed afterwards that he'd been to embarrassed to admit he had dyslexia (for which accommodations would have been made, had they known).
Just sign up for the nearest available course in your area, and stop over-thinking it.
Solid State Electronic Devices by Streetman and Banerjee is everything you need to know semiconductor devices and the physics behind them.
Advanced Engineering Electromagnetics by Balanis covers E&M waves
Crystal Fire
Look no further.
This is, in my opinion, the best resource for semiconductor physics.
You mentioned Arduino, so I'd recommend this book and Make:Electronics
For the more academic side of things I'd recommend, The Art of Electronics Student Manual
I was always able to remember that last name because of his book. I wish I had met him when he was still around.
This is one of my favourites, although it is more heavy on theory than it is on real-world applications. But if you can get through it, you will have a great understanding of how motors work. Covers DC and AC asynchronous/synchronous motors, servos, as well as stepper / reluctance motors, and a heavy discussion on VFD's, both in the V/Hz and PID modes.
A great book if you want to really understand, electromagnetically, what is going on "under the hood" with motors & VFDs. There is not a ton of chat about non-VFD control, but they do go over other starting methods. It's not super technical, but if you want that, you want Hughes, which covers some of this plus a million other things.
EDIT: Also covers some odd-ball stuff like cyclo-converters and such.
I reached out to a friend (who has the Amateur Extra license) for guidance and he recommended the canonical ARRL book (link). I've been reading that and it's been VERY helpful. It organizes all the questions by subject matter and teaches more holistically, while still letting you see the exact content in the exam.
Here is a good book to get you started.
Tab Electronics Guide to Understanding Electricity and Electronics https://www.amazon.com/dp/0071360573/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_dY.ADb1263B4S
Another
Make: Electronics: Learning Through Discovery https://www.amazon.com/dp/1680450263/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_mZ.ADbV1KTHK3
I'm taking ECE 103 with Tu this quarter, and we're using Semiconductor Device Fundamentals by Pierret: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0201543931/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I've heard that this is /the/ book to use for this class from people who've attended other schools, and I've found it pretty good at explaining things. You can rent it from Amazon for fairly cheap, and there is a PDF floating around the internet but the person who scanned it is a moron and put four pages on a single PDF page. Also, I believe Dayeh posts his notes online and they're decent, except for his handwriting being atrocious.
About 2 months. There was essentially no overlap between the FE (which I studied like crazy for) and the PE. Probably engineering economics. My 2 months were OK, though. I wasted about a week trying to follow this book, but it was constantly presenting one set of equations and then using an entirely different set for practice problems. I almost ended up throwing it away because it was completely useless even at the exam. Crazy since it is so highly rated.
Practical Electronics For Inventors was the one and only reason why I got an A in my Digital Electronics, Circuits I, Circuits II, Electronics I, Electronics II, Elab II, and Elab III classes. It is completely unheard-of at my school for people to get an A in all those classes, but this one book summarizes every topic in a wonderfully practical way. This one book enabled me to get a grasp of all the major basic electronics topics in a unifying, intuitive way.
AllaboutCircuits.com is also very good, and the forums are great, but if you want to genuinely learn in a concise, concrete manner, get this book.
It also teaches you about exactly how all the major types of transistors work in a way that Freshman/Sophomore-level engineers can understand. Honestly, this book will be the best $25 book you'eve ever bought from Amazon if you take Electrical Engineering seriously.
I don't use a lot of reference material (outside of data sheets), but I do have the textbook from when I took circuits 1.
https://www.amazon.com/Fundamentals-Electric-Circuits-Charles-Alexander/dp/0078028221/ref=zg_bs_13698_11?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=N0HAN2GYR7V8RH48QT43
​
This is the newest version, I didnt use this version, I used the 4th edition, but It did a REASONABLE (not great) explanation of circuits, KVL, KCL, etc.
http://www.antenna-theory.com/intro/books.php
> A good book on antenna theory would look nice on your bookshelf. And girls really like antenna books. Sometimes you get sick of reading things on the internet, and want a comprehensive antenna book to read. On this page, I'll review some of the popular antenna books available.
Seriously, you could do worse than Antenna Theory by Balanis:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1118642066
"Crystal Fire: The Invention of the Transistor and the Birth of the Information Age"
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0393318516/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0393041247&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=02PT8BMV910WJE5K514J
Hands-down, my favorite circuit theory text is "Fundamentals of Electric Circuits" by Alexander and Sadiku (https://www.amazon.ca/Fundamentals-Electric-Circuits-Charles-Alexander/dp/0078028221). It's one of the only books I reference from time to time as a working professional.
Good advice. Agree with ML course. Did my foundation there earlier this year. Booked for the intermediate as well now. Local clubs were terribly disorganised and not worth the effort even talking to.
Look at the RSGB practice exams here for what is involved: http://rsgb.org/main/clubs-training/training-resources/
And get the "foundation now" book. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1872309801/
It was pretty easy to pass with one eye shut. Quite a few people got 100%. Morse appreciation was a simple listen and send test. You could transcribe easily. There was a VHF QSO, HF rig set up, AMU set up and that was it.
I recommend Sparkfun or Mouser for parts. Just be careful that you pick breadboard-able parts (through hole / pcb) and not surface mount (smt).
If you can afford to pick up an Arduino UNO or similar there are a bunch of tutorials online for simple circuits with those and you'll also learn a bit about programming (if you don't know already).
The problem with leaning electric circuits is that it's hard to do much that's exciting until you've learned quite a bit unless you use a microcontroller like an Arduino.
For learning the basics I'm a fan of this book.
Electric Circuits by James W. Nilsson and Susan Riedel
I'm sure you can find this cheaper than on Amazon.
Good luck and don't get discouraged. There are a lot of odd concepts in electronics but you'll get them if you try. (YouTube is your friend.)
https://www.amazon.com/Science-Analog-Circuit-Design-Engineers/dp/0750670622/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1506116476&sr=8-1&keywords=art+and+science+of+analog+circuit+design
https://www.amazon.com/Crystal-Fire-Transistor-Information-Technology/dp/0393318516/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1506116159&sr=8-1&keywords=crystal+fire
Pocket Ref - page 324 "Human Body Composition." I swear, this book is as useful as the Internet.
Oh, and Pocket Ref's data is from 1984 and disagrees with the linked data from 1977.
Your suggestion looks fantastic! Not so focused on one topic, and general, yet not introductory. Looks like it builds on the AC/DC circuit analysis to look at more advanced electronics. For reference this is my "intro" book I'll be using. AoE looks like it shares some overlap but also some topics built up from those topics.
Yeah I recommend just researching more. I knew nothing last January and built a custom battery for my moped the past 2 months.
Check out this book. It has everything I used for it. Plus he has YouTube videos. He doesn’t pay me for this. I was just enthusiastic enough to learn.
DIY Lithium Batteries: How to Build Your Own Battery Packs https://www.amazon.com/dp/0989906701/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_uekvDbPFXV23H
Not an eBook but this book has the best intro to electronic components I have ever seen. I have been using it to help my wife learn electronics: http://www.amazon.com/Practical-Electronics-Inventors-Paul-Scherz/dp/0070580782/
Wikipedia has a great intro article on this chip. Youtube also has at least a million great videos showing how to use the 555. This is a chip that as an EE you should absolutely know forwards and backwards. While it's less useful nowadays - thanks to microcontrollers that cost less than a few cents - it's still an amazingly useful chip that can time pretty much anything.
A book to add to your reading list
...which is written by the 555 IC's designer, Hans Camenzind
Having been in a same situation and passing the EE FE recently, I would recommend getting the EE-Orientated review manual from PPI. As a supplement there are some review problem books on Amazon. The one I bought was geared towards the new computer based exam [Review Problems Book] (https://www.amazon.com/dp/1517777925/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_1y84xbND7S9P0).
The material you need to know is on the NCEES. There you ca find the break down of materials you need to know. Good luck!
Looks like he released the 4th ed recently
He also has Modern Antenna Handbook
And several others, thank you for bringing my attention to him!
This is the first book I read on the subject! It starts with the water-flow analogy of electricity and identifying components, and goes up through analog and digital circuits with some great projects along the way. I built the analog power supply project inside the housing of an old radio and still use it at home.
Tab Electronics Guide to Understanding Electricity and Electronics
Razavi -- Fundamentals of Microelectronics
http://www.amazon.com/Fundamentals-Microelectronics-Behzad-Razavi/dp/1118156323
Yes, I was referring to the FE reference manual. I typed my previous comment on my phone and its always easier to type with a computer. But yea, the Lindberg manual does 10 problems at the beginning of each major section and then throughout the section they have questions that go over a specific lesson they tried to teach you, if that makes sense. I bought mine new, but I wish I bought it used, simply because it was a good review manual, but I learn more with practice problems.
The two books I used were:
https://www.amazon.com/Study-Fundamentals-Engineering-Electrical-Computer/dp/1517777925/ref=pd_sim_14_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=W33Q3N8S9A25YRK8RWGD
https://www.amazon.com/Fundamentals-Engineering-Electrical-Computer-Specification/dp/1534759492/ref=pd_sim_14_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=W33Q3N8S9A25YRK8RWGD
It is the same author for both. Just as a warning, both of these books do have some errors, but they are easily caught. The first book has almost 400 problems, which may seem like overkill, but in my opinion, I liked it. For example, you get like 6 problems on two port theory. While on an exam you may see 1 or 0 of this problem, it was nice to see where you struggled. So if you went through all 400ish problems and noticed alot of incorrects in a particular section, you would know exactly what to review.
And yes, the problems are a bit harder than the exam. The FE exam is here to test if you know the fundamentals, not be an expert. My biggest piece of advice is this: Buy the TI-36X Pro, learn all its functions (can solve polynomials, do matrices, convert binary to hex, etc) and only use the fe handbook when working problems. I only say this because if you use the Lindberg review, he goes into great detail on how to transpose a matrix, but your calculator can do that for you. No sense in bogging down in all these "tricks" when the calculator can solve you loads of time.
Ok, so if you really have to build your own motion/motor controller, here is how you could proceed (Disclaimer: I have never actually built a high power motor controller myself):
The first step is to select an appropriate motor. In your case, I think, you will end up having to use a brushless DC motor (also called EC motor, three-phase motor, ...). However, using a brushed DC motor would make your job a lot easier.
Maxon has some good resources to get the big picture of motor drivers. Note that you can't transfer everything 1:1 to larger motors (losses in the power electronics become more important (!)), but the basic principles are still the same. The document about BLDC motors is probably the most interesting one for you, especially starting from page 11.
/u/wolfcry0 summarized the things you need to know about your system pretty well :). If you want us to help you, you should also share them with us. Also consider if you require a speed controller (with feedback).
Once you know the basics, you should also look at some of the available motor controllers out there. I think there are four main sources for you:
You will also need to know, how to design and build your own PCB. Maybe there is a class for this at your university? I also suggest that you have someone to guide you through the design, who has experience with PCB design. Don't forget to allocate enough time for bug-fixing, software development and a second revision of your hardware....
First do the hand calculations for the patch antenna size, they can be found in many textbooks.
Next, simulate the antenna and see how close it matches your hand calculations.
I can recommend:
Microstrip Antenna Design Handbook by Bahl, Bhartia et al.
Good antenna theory textbooks are:
Antenna Theory and Design by Stutzman and Thiele
Antenna Theory: Analysis and Design by Balanis
Older editions can be found on AbeBooks and are just fine.
Antenna-Theory.com is a good online antenna reference.
Try posting in /r/rfelectronics for help later.
If you're looking for a Semiconductor Physics book then Pierret is the standard from what I've seen.
From a circuits and applications side, go read "The Art of Electronics", "Troubleshooting Analog Circuits", and all the app notes from TI, Maxim, National, and Linear.
This then this.
I remember this one being pretty good. Mainly used it in the first couple of intro classes, so if you're doing a lot with transistors it may not be very useful.
http://www.amazon.com/Electric-Circuits-9th-James-Nilsson/dp/0136114997/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1425422648&sr=1-1&keywords=nilsson+riedel+electric+circuits
For Non-Linear systems I love Khaleel. Though I dont remember if he has much on Sliding Mode.
I learned Kalman Filters from [Thrun] (http://www.amazon.com/Probabilistic-Robotics-Intelligent-Autonomous-Agents/dp/0262201623/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1348256381&sr=1-1&keywords=probabilistic+robotics). Though he really approaches it from a software perspective and not necessarily controls (they are merging now!). He also has all different flavors of filters, which is awesome.
I read an interesting book a few years back called "The Body Electric" and was amazed at all of his research into electrobiology... and it was all in the 60s! If they had delved further into this in the past few decades I think we would be much further along in our understanding of the human body.
Towards the end he relates his efforts to tighten EMF standards but he was largely poo-pooed and given the run around. Our bodies are precisely tuned electrical machines and I'm sure the pervading presence of electronics, even in relatively small doses, adds up to be a relatively large danger to our health (possibly even mental health). Ever since I've grounded my bed, I sleep much better at night.
So, I think we are the only team doing this, but we are actually using battery caps instead of spot welding. They're from a company called Vruzend and work kind of like lego's. They owner of the company Micah Toll has written a book on battery pack building and has a very popular Youtube channel on battery pack building.
We haven't finished testing our caps and won't be able to fully vouch for them until after it has undergone the rigors of the ASC. But it did significantly reduce the time it took to make our pack. Instead of spot welding each battery multiple times, we fully assembled our back in just a few hours.
It's not a reference manual, if that's what you're asking. If it was like mine, it covers all of the basics in analog circuit theory and analysis... how things work, finding values, and probably some design. Far beyond use of CAD tools (although that was probably covered too).
http://www.amazon.com/Electric-Circuits-9th-James-Nilsson/dp/0136114997/
I bought an IEEE DVD PE set (Dr. Blank), Yarbrough's books and several practice exams with the intent of taking the electronics exam.
http://www.amazon.com/Electrical-Engineering-Reference-Manual-Exam/dp/1888577045
https://www.drblank.com/cope.htm
Later the computer specialty test came out and from what I can tell there are not any review courses for it
https://cdn.ncees.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/PE-Ele-Computer-Apr-2009-1.pdf
Based on what I'm currently doing, the computer specialty test is a much better fit.
If you're interested in learning about how to think at this level of abstraction, start with a good circuit theory book. Here's one:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0078028221/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1523270003&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=fundamental+electrical+circuit&dpPl=1&dpID=41LS10cqVML&ref=plSrch
I am not a business entrepreneur and don't want to be one. My business is the tech world; more specifically, electricity. This is the book I bought this week. It has absolutely zero personal experiences and gossip in it- just how I like it. I can see how liberals are into the Obamas though. They are good people who fight for the uneducated and the less fortunate. Makes sense. I imagine if the Obamas were still in office those Hondurans would be in our system by now- using my hard earned money for food and health care.
Cant compare to other books, but this is what we used for nonlinear.
https://www.amazon.com/Nonlinear-Systems-3rd-Hassan-Khalil/dp/0130673897
The majority is on nonlinear systems in general, but the last 2 chapters teach control techniques. (book is available online as pdf if you want to take a look at it first)
You've got a lot of good advice in this post that pretty much covers what I was gonna say. I can relate to you when you say that you really understand the subject by working through all the details and the math. However, I've found that when it's time to actually put theory to practice, a lot of times you can't do it directly because the problem at hand is way too complex. And like you said, that approach takes a very long time. So, a compromise I've made is that I just start doing the project, and then learn the theory in parallel. That way, you sort of start to get both the intuition and the solid foundations behind what you're trying to work on.
Also, a practical book I'd recommend is Practical Antenna Handbook. I've skimmed through it and it seems like a really good book to get a feeling for working with antennas. It's definitely on my to-read list. If you really want the nitty-gritty of antenna theory, I've heard good things about Balanis and Kraus.
Fundamental of microelectronics
I'd recommend between this book and Sedra & Smith's book. But, Razavi's book might be easier to understand.
Well first you’ll probably want to get a license to use it. Assuming you’re in the US, I recommend this book to help you get started. It’s not very difficult to get the entry level license (Technician), but if by “long range” you mean global, you’ll need to upgrade to a license that permits use of those frequencies, which would be the next step up (General).
There’s a lot of possibilities with this question and I think you’ll probably get more help at r/amateurradio as r/radio is more for broadcast radio rather than two way communication.
This topic reminds me of a book entitled, "The Body Electric". It was a study of electrical currents and the human body -- with a focus on healing and regeneration.
http://www.amazon.com/Body-Electric-Electromagnetism-Foundation-Life/dp/0688069711/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1408651999&sr=1-1&keywords=the+body+electric
Of course! There are a lot of okay entry-level control theory books, but the really good books are a bit more advanced. The /r/controltheory wiki here has some good book suggestions (in particular the WikiBooks book on control theory), but I'd really recommend watching Steve Brunton's Control Theory Bootcamp on youtube to get a good overview of intro grad level control. Brian Douglass (also on youtube) has also a bunch of great videos on control theory, if you are interested in diving deeper into specific topics.
I used Chen's "Linear Systems: Theory and Design" as my intro book, but it's not exactly the most riveting. My favourite book now is Ian Postlethwaite and Sigurd Skogestad's "Multivariable Feedback Control: Analysis and Design" (apparently control theorists really like colons in their titles).
Now none of these books will use anything beyond advanced linear algebra and functional analysis, so for the nonlinear control that uses the fancier differential geometry, I'd recommend Bullo and Lewis and "Nonlinear Systems" by Khalil. Note that Khalil has another book called "Nonlinear Control", which is just Nonlinear Systems but cut in half. Don't get that one.
Control theory also intersects with optimization (they share the same arXiv classification), so for optimization I'd recommend Convex Optimization by Boyd and Vanderberghe. It's really a fantastic book. Calculus of variations is also essential for studying optimal control.
For your second question, I guess it depends if you want academic or industry positions. I can happily say that right now the job market for control theory is super hot in both. Aerospace and car companies are hiring controls people to do autonomous car stuff and spacecraft GNC (think the spaceX rocket landing), and a few of the car companies even opened up industrial labs where academics can do research and publish papers. It's pretty good. I'm graduating this year, and I managed to line up a few tenure track job interviews. I think like 40 R1-level places were hiring controls people, mostly for autonomous systems work.
That being said, you should definitely study something you are interested in. I have the fortunate problem of being interested in literally everything, so I kind of picked research topics that were hot for academic jobs. I wouldn't focus so much on choosing between "pure" and "applied", because the line is very blurred sometimes, and I think control theory definitely fills a large span of what people consider "pure" and "applied". So I think you are right in that you can study some very pure math topics, and then use those to do controls work. For example, my mathematical interest from undergrad was graph theory, and now all my controls papers that I write are using neat things like spectral and algebraic graph theory. Other things like spacecraft controls uses stuff like Clifford algebras to do the quaternion computations rigorously.
One control-theory-esque thing that is very hot in math departments right now is optimal mass transport. The math department at my university interviewed two faculty candidates doing OMT work. If you are interested, I'd recommend the books by Cedric Villani. The connection to control theory was done by Brenier and Benamou.
When you learn about your graduate admissions, if you want I can take a look at the faculty and see who does more theoretical control theory stuff and make recommendations. Its completely normal to be indecisive, especially if you are an undergrad about to start grad school. Definitely explore a bit, both on the math and the controls side, and feel free to message me if you have more questions. Good luck!
"The Art of Electronics" is widely considered the the single most authoritative book for electronics. There is a companion book "The Art of Electronics Student Manual" that may also prove very useful to you. If you don't have any experience building circuits yet check out this video from EEVBlog "How to setup an Electronics Lab for $300". The easiest way to learn is to learn by doing.
If you haven't started playing with electronics yet, get started you will be glad you did. Never stop learning.
Thanks for verifying that for me, it's left me a little concerned about my mathematical skills. I can't seem to get it to adjust to the range I desire, it seems to range from 15-20 volts and I can't seem to get it any lower, even after replacing the zener reference with an actual 7805 regulator. I'd like to be able to change the voltage of this with a single pot, but as I said it's not doing the range I desire. Do you have a suggestion for any good schematics for op-amp or transistor based adjustable voltage regulator that you've enjoyed? I have a book which contains several chapters leading up to the construction of a dual adjustable supply, but I can't seem to find much direct information in the book regarding what the expected range would be, so i don't know if I should build it or not yet. I know I could always grab a couple lm317's to build a nice dual adjustable supply, but that really takes the fun and learning out of the whole project for me :P
Thanks!
Here is the book. He also runs a site - ebikeschool.com.
I have Michael Wilson for EE112. I found the 9th edition of the textbook online but I'm not sure if it's the same one. Here's the cover.
Thanks for the help
Tab Electronics Guide to Understanding Electricity and Electronics
This book seems to be the world's favorite intro book.
I would recommend you stick to books for EEs, rather than physics (Griffiths and Jackson are physicists). Its all the same stuff obviously, but the focus, methods and notation is rather different (e.g e^jwt vs e^-jwt) and and that will be confusing when you are staring out. I would get the book assigned by your professor, and if you want to go more in depth, check out:
Balanis Advanced Engineering Electromagnetics
and
Harrington Time-Harmonic Electromagnetic Fields
These books are classics and are oriented at a first year graduate student, but would be good references to augment your undergrad course material. They will go into a bit more detail and mathematical rigor, and if you're motivated and interested, I think they would be beneficial.
> "Electric circuits" by Nilsson, 9nth edition.
I know absolutely nothing about electronics but Amazon reviews are not liking this book at all.
EDIT: Many reviews are tipping to get this one instead :Fundamentals of Electric Circuits
You may be right in some cases, but salamanders have full regenerative abilities. [The Body Electric] (http://www.amazon.com/The-Body-Electric-Electromagnetism-Foundation/dp/0688069711) begins with experiments on regeneration.
Try Practical Electronics for Inventors. I know it sounds cheesy, but it's very task oriented. It doesn't exactly deal with projects, more the pieces you need to know to accomplish your own project.
Despite that these references are more for "industrial applications" though:
http://www.amazon.com/Electric-Motors-Drives-Fundamentals-Applications/dp/0080983324
http://www.amazon.com/Electric-Motor-Control-Stephen-Herman/dp/1435485750
http://www.amazon.com/Electrical-Machines-Drives-Systems-Edition/dp/0131776916
You may be able to find a preview on Google Books to confirm suitability for your application.
During my engineering degree I studied semiconductors extensively. The two books I would recommend to you are Pierret for device fundamentals, and I think this is what I used for device fab. Since your lab does optoelectronics, I'll also recommend Kasap. These are all very much engineering oriented, so they are good if you're looking for a functional understanding of how these devices work.
Also, some of the solid state physics (learning about density of states, electronic structure, etc.) is probably better learned from Mermin and Ashcroft.
Wow, OK. Agree about MS. There was also Crystal Fire about the birth of the transistor which told much the same story (although I can't imagine William Shockley would have been impressed). I'm sure you are right in that AT&T didn't want new things like touch phones, let alone cell phones. But I haven't seen much evidence that basic research is done by industry any more. Also, IBM did the same thing and wasn't broken up by government action but by competition. Also, there are only so many phone lines. Which makes the same argument that net neutrality needs to be a thing.
This has everything you will ever need to know for when you don't have a connection to the internets.
The Art of Electronics Student Manual is a good reference
I'm sorry, I didn't realize you need peer-review on straight, repeated scientific evidence. All peer-reviewed means is that someone who kisses ass in the right places taps you on the shoulder so you can proceed forth, into what is deemed "safe territory" by the powers that be. If that sounds crazy, maybe you should read some more books. I recommend "The Body Electric" and "Mad Sheep"
Just stop trying to snub info that you don't know about. It's harmful to those who seek true knowledge.
Yeah, the laws explicitly allow transmission outside of your licensed limits for the preservation of life and property. The test is super easy. You should read the book it's based on at least once to get a broad understanding, and then download a free app that gives you all the test questions. Just go through the questions until you've memorized enough to Ace the test.
Testing costs around $15. I'd strongly recommend taking all the tests through amateur extra to get access to all amateur bands. If it takes you an extra couple months to memorize all the questions, that's totally fine (unless you're in a hurry to transmit, then just study more!).
In short, you'll need $20 for a Kindle version of the arrl manual (you can skip it and read free or lower cost manuals if money is super tight, but this is the official guide that you can come back to).
https://www.amazon.com/ARRL-Ham-Radio-License-Manual-ebook/dp/B07DFSW94G
Then you'll study with a free app.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.iversoft.ham.test.prep
You can just Ace the tests from the app by memorizing all the questions, but there's HUGE value to actually understanding the content in the study guide that you won't get from memorizing a couple hundred question answers.
Then, take a test for a variable cost -- mine was $15 (and that covers all three tests if you take them all, it's just a fee to help pay for the site and materials).
Finally, or maybe first, get yourself a cheap ham radio like the baofang UV-5R. It's only about $20, so I'd just get it and start playing with the relatively complicated controls (plenty of guides on the internet) and worry about any upgrades long into the future when you have money and you're sure you're interested.