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I found that electronics are very difficult to learn from books, but easy to learn as an apprentice. Maybe just visit your local hackerspace, they'll have the t

I found that electronics are very difficult to learn from books, but easy to learn as an apprentice. Maybe just visit your local hackerspace, they'll have the tools around and ideas for easy starter projects.

lbriner 5y ago
As an electronics teacher, I don't think it is specifically that learning from books is difficult but that it is hard to strike the balance between theory and practice, the high level and the low level. My approach has been to ignore a lot of detail until it is needed to understand what is happening on the macro level. For example, you don't need to understand electrons especially travelling opposite to current, which can be especially challenging, until we might discuss why some components have a higher rated power than others or why we cannot control a large motor with a small transistor, at which point we can introduce current.
andi999 5y ago
Thats why 'the art of electronics' has a lab companion book.
- mindcrime 5y ago
  As an electronics teacher, I don't think it is specifically that learning from books is difficult but that it is hard to strike the balance between theory and practice, the high level and the low level. As a hobby electronics enthusiast who has been dabbling with this stuff basically my whole life, and is currently lodged firmly somewhere in the gap between "total n00b" and "advanced beginner", I would absolutely agree. The gap between practice and theory in this field is so large, and so many books are all the way at one end of the spectrum or the other, that it's very hard (in my experience) to find material in the "sweet spot" between theory and practice. The reality is, you can learn a lot, and do a lot, with a moderately superficial knowledge of the underlying theory. But at the same time, there's a lot you can't do, or a lot of mistakes you can make unknowingly, without knowing the theory. Learning it incrementally, piece-meal as needed, is somewhat doable, but it's a slog. I wish I had a good answer for people who want to "do some electronics" but don't want to go get an E.E. degree.
  - tuatoru 5y ago
    I'm in the same position more or less. I recently discovered a book that looks to be a good "intermediate" theory text: Passive Circuit Analysis with LTSpice: an Interactive Approach. Only have the kindle sample at present, as it's a fair chunk of money for my budget.

lbriner 5y ago

As an electronics teacher, I don't think it is specifically that learning from books is difficult but that it is hard to strike the balance between theory and practice, the high level and the low level. My approach has been to ignore a lot of detail until it is needed to understand what is happening on the macro level. For example, you don't need to understand electrons especially travelling opposite to current, which can be especially challenging, until we might discuss why some components have a higher rated power than others or why we cannot control a large motor with a small transistor, at which point we can introduce current.

andi999 5y ago

Thats why 'the art of electronics' has a lab companion book.

mindcrime 5y ago
As an electronics teacher, I don't think it is specifically that learning from books is difficult but that it is hard to strike the balance between theory and practice, the high level and the low level. As a hobby electronics enthusiast who has been dabbling with this stuff basically my whole life, and is currently lodged firmly somewhere in the gap between "total n00b" and "advanced beginner", I would absolutely agree. The gap between practice and theory in this field is so large, and so many books are all the way at one end of the spectrum or the other, that it's very hard (in my experience) to find material in the "sweet spot" between theory and practice. The reality is, you can learn a lot, and do a lot, with a moderately superficial knowledge of the underlying theory. But at the same time, there's a lot you can't do, or a lot of mistakes you can make unknowingly, without knowing the theory. Learning it incrementally, piece-meal as needed, is somewhat doable, but it's a slog. I wish I had a good answer for people who want to "do some electronics" but don't want to go get an E.E. degree.
- tuatoru 5y ago
  I'm in the same position more or less. I recently discovered a book that looks to be a good "intermediate" theory text: Passive Circuit Analysis with LTSpice: an Interactive Approach. Only have the kindle sample at present, as it's a fair chunk of money for my budget.