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Hey Dave, just wanted to point out that Sedra/Smith does go into the basics of op-amps. It starts in Chapter 2 (in the textbook I have). You were going over Chapter 13, which dives deeper into op-amps, granted that the person reading has already reviewed Chapter 2. I think they start out much better than the other textbooks with the ideal op-amp, what happens when you add feedback, inverting/non-inverting amps, very similar to how you described it in your op-amp basics video. Cheers!

You missed my personal favorite: Practical Electronics for Inventors, by Paul Scherz and Simon Monk. Easy to understand, good practical examples, starts at a beginner level and works up to fairly advanced topics. Highly recommended.

I like "Practical Electronics for Inventors" by Paul Scherz and Simon Monk

UPDATE: Turns out that Sedra/Smith does have an introductory OpAmps section which is out of place near the start which is why I missed it. It's still fairly maths oriented though.

I think a lot of people would be surprised by just how good the ARRL handbook can be for a lot of this.

To pass engineering exams, Sedra-Smith. To just learn, any other.

I've been working in electronics for 50 years and I am still learning the basics. 😄

The Art of Electronics by Horowitz-Hill is amazing for learning applied electronics, great book!

For textbooks I like picking up used copies (semi-recent editions), it's a cheap way to see if the book speaks to me or not.

I was in JR. High School (In the mid 70's) when I caught the Electronics Bug. I used to carry around the National Semiconductor Analog Data Book and the Signetics TTL Book. The Signetics TTL White hard bound data Book was so beautifully illustrated, I still have it today.

Electronic Principles has by far been my favorite. Something about the way the information is communicated is so clear to me. I also wanted to point out that the stiff voltage and stiff current sections were really simple to understand and helped to deepen my understanding of electronics, so it's definitely a win for me.

I'm a theoretical physicist who has spent plenty of time with Maxwell's equations and quantum electrodynamics already (including having had conversations with EEs that boil down to "if we could just reduce it to some trivial problem where we could Fourier-Laplace transform it"), but admittedly don't know much about practical electronic circuit design. So Sedra/Smith looks like a live option for me. The Art of Electronics is looking interesting too. Math doesn't scare and I certainly don't want another damn cartoon picture of the atom! Admittedly that's a rather niche market... By the way, I did like your op-amp videos too!

I was self-taught through high school, and I started with Forrest M. Mims book (Getting Started in Electronics), then Make: Electronics, then Practical Electronics for Inventors, then Art of Electronics. I started reading AoE in senior year of HS, but I'm still going through it five years later, there's just so much good stuff you can miss. I kept the Markus Sourcebook of Electronic Circuits around a lot through high school and college, and then one of my favorites, Grey and Meyer! I've actually had the 1st edition for years now, and still learn from it (though I keep the updated version as a PDF, old editions completely neglect CMOS and MOSFET circuits in analog). I have a copy of Sedra and Smith now, which I use often, though it certainly feels like a textbook rather than an electronics book. The material is thorough and solid. Then from coursework I have books like Streetman and Banerjee (Solid State Electronic Devices), and Weste and Harris (CMOS VLSI Design) which can be exceedingly dense (wall-of-text) but they are very valuable. Then there's the speciality books on RF and microwave (Bowick, Pozar, Jackson), high speed digital (Black Magic is a must), signal processing (Oppenheim), and communications (Lathi, Proakis). This is of course not to mention app notes and datasheets, which are how I learned much of what I know about embedded systems, as well as the number of great writers of notes and articles, like Jim Williams and Bob Pease. I could go on! Nothing like a good book on circuits, there's so much creativity.

I agree about Sedra/Smith being too math heavy. My school (or the Dr. teaching all the electronics courses) leaned heavily on it. Up until senior year I couldn't tell you how anything we learned worked, but I could rattle off the math from memory because if you didn't, you'd fail the exam. It wasn't until I got senior level courses with professors that focused on "intuitively understanding" the devices and circuits that it all started to make some sense instead of just being numbers. The types who would ramble on about random stories and make jokes taught me more than the department heads who would drone on for an hour about the math. Still a fantastic resource, though. My "favorite" part of the S/S experience was the 30 minutes of marker squeak in front of a dead silent classroom while the professor filled the every bit of the whiteboard with equations and diagrams. the moment he turned around and started talking, there was a good 60 seconds of everyone scrambling to get ready to take notes again

Bang for the buck, it's hard to beat practical electronics for inventors by Scherz and Monk. It's a great intro into electronics that's written in easy to understand language. The newest edition is only $20.

The beginning of your video highlights something a lot of students miss regardless of the subject being learned. That is the importance of understanding how your own brain responds to the way information is presented. Some people are heavy visual learners, others are practical, some can consume vast tomes of text with minimal need for illustrations or practice. Learning your strengths and weaknesses in this way allows you to learn more quickly and effectively.

Dave, the best textbook out there is your back catalog of fundamentals friday videos.

Thank you for the all the work you do and all these content you share EEVBlog :). I can't put it in words how useful these videos are to us!

good video liked how you went through each book and showed what they looked like and their contents. must save this one to my favorites..

I still have my second edition of Malvino it looks very different from the one you were showing. I was taking classes in Silicon Valley during the late 70s and both Malvino and Grob were teaching classes around the Bay Area. I was in a program that used Grob’s book but I went to another campus to buy a copy of Malvino’s book because I found easier to read. On another note my father worked the telephone company; after he died I was cleaning out the garage for my mother and found a box of books that were the course material for his lineman classes. I was very impressed with level of theory in these books especially the parts about isolation transforms. I learned quite a bit that later put to uses in a telecom equipment manufacture I worked for.

I'm an ECE Student from Greece and for the introduction in electronics we use a textbook book from a greek professor but we also use Sedra-Smith for the more advanced courses and even though it seems convoluted it's an amazing textbook. It has helped me not only for the university courses but for personal projects as well.

I started my electrical education as a kid, using a completely metal screwdriver - including handle - and the mains electrical socket in my bedroom. I can still smell the burned skin like it was yesterday. Those are the lessons you just can't find in books these days.. :)

It was the "the art of electronics " for me. Recomended by chief engineer in R&D lab, still got it and use it today, now the grey cells are getting on a bit.

Oooh! Thanks for bringing the X-Chapters to my attention I have been waiting a long time for an update to TAOE.

Great video! I taught electronics engineering technology (EET) and engineering (for EE and ME students) in circuit analysis for 40 years at the university (Purdue) and at at community college (Rock Valley College) levels. I also worked (concurrently) as an EE at an aerospace company for 31 years. The dual experiences gave me a unique perspective. I taught from Floyd, Malvino, and Boylstadt at various times. I would rank them in that order from friendly to not so friendly. Sedra is in a totally different class (hostile). I believes this agrees with your assessment. You were spot on. The Art of Electronics is a popular reference book. If I were teaching an electronics class, it suitable only as a recommended reference.

We used Sedra/Smith in our class and your reaction is absolutely spot on. It was not a smooth learning experience.

For my E.E. degree at the Technical University of Denmark, I used Hambly as an introduction followed by Sedra/Smith. Didnt really like Sedra/Smith, but I got through it. Also, I placed an order for the X-chapters - really looking forward to this! 🤟

A lot of professors and departments LIKE a math-heavy, push you in the deep end of the pool -type books for their starting core classes. It lets them weed out early the ones that likely won't complete the curriculum for the major. That is a very different approach than you want to take with people trying to get up the learning curve for the enjoyment of a hobby. That may be why some of the books seem "harder" than is needed, and more likely to push people away from the field. Some of the people choosing text books want it that way.

I don't think Harvard uses The Art of Electronics for any EE course but instead for an "electronics for non EEs". Where the course is intended for those working in experimental physics, chemistry, computer science, etc... Physics programs in the USA often use it for a one semester course on electronics in the 3rd year. By then students know electromagnetics, seen basic AC/DC circuits, and taken a fair amount of maths courses. Having all that really helps get over the initial steepness of it's learning curve that many self studiers experience.

I learned basic electronics via Malvino Electronic principles 5th edition and Digital electronics via Floyd Digital fundamentals 8th edition. I love both authors.

Dave, thanks for your "Electronics Textbook Shootout." It helps me understand how others might see things. I'm a recently retired professor of electrical engineering and also worked in the electronics industry designing NMOS chips (this was the early 1980's when CMOS was not yet dominant) for a well known company that, "started up in a garage." When I was a student myself Sedra and Smith's book did not yet exist and the TTL 7400 type logic BJT stuff) was state-of-the art. When I started teaching, Sedra and Smith is the book I gravitated to because it was rigorous and included things that I had to deal with industry. For a rigorous and robust presentation, IMHO Sedra and Smith stands out with margin from the other books. I'd also like to point out that Sedra and Smith has a "FETs first" approach to semiconductor theory. This seemed weird to me when they first introduced it (at about 5th edition) because I had been taught "BJTs first" when I was a student. But the more I used Sedra and Smith, the more I appreciated that "FETs first" is what is happening in industry and more directly covered the types of work I did in industry. I now think it is a superior way to teach students. Well, that's just my two bits. But I see your point about the graphics, especially the good graphics in Floyd's book. Sedra and Smith could do better there for sure. I greatly appreciate your videos. Keep 'em coming!

One thing that makes The Art Of Electronics textbook-like is the fact that there is a lab manual for it also (which has info in it not in the main book).

Hit the nail on the head, a single book that covers all of electronics would be 250,000 pages long. I've got the older versions of Sedra/Smith and Boylestad, et al. These books are usually studied in the 3rd year of EE study, after you have all the math and physics background needed to understand these advanced concepts. I've also got several dozen other books on electrical engineering, as I worked through and obtained my B.Sc. in EE. I'm still saving up for "The Art of Electronics", a great book on the application of electronics, but not much theory, hoping to get it in the next year or so.

If you are a student there are lots and lots of electronics books in pdf format online that you can download for free. They just seem to be available if you google the book title. This is a great way for students who may not have a lot of money to acquire good books. If you are old school like me and you like to have the physical book then there are loads of used books out there that you can buy online for very very cheap. They may only be 3rd or 4th editions but the fundamentals of electronics don't change so buy up some of these books and start you own little collection. Oh and to anyone just starting out studying electronics, best of luck and stick at it. I am halfway through my 3rd year of college and still learning so much new stuff everyday.

Well put Dave. I have found that you cannot limit yourself to one source. Over the years of post graduation. I found many excellent resources. Downloaded The Art of Electronics yesterday.

I have both the Malvino and Floyd books from when I did my EE in the early 2000's. Both great books, but I found the Floyd had a more practical approach. Found the chapter on FETs and OPAmps to be easier to understand.

I am both an Electrical Technologist and an Electrical Engineer. The Malvino text is primary for technology/technician students. The Sedra/Smith is for university students in electrical and computer engineering, designed to cover all the core electronic courses as well as additional 4th year topics. Both are amazing texts and will help you seriously excel and learn if you take the time to work through them.

I suspect there is still only one answer to "What is the best electronics textbook?" and that's "The Art of Electronics". I don't think it's down to personal preference; it's the clarity of explanation that counts (which Dave doesn't really address at all). Few books on any subject are as clearly explained as A of E. Nor do I think it's especially advanced. If you have a Physics 'O' Level (maybe an 'A' Level these days for a similar quantity of knowledge) then that's plenty enough to get you through it. Having said that - and believing A of E would never be knocked off its perch, I recently found something that I think may be better. It is "A Practical Introduction to Electronics" by Martin Hartley-Jones. This one does probably start at college level but there's nothing in it that a bright, and motivated, 15 year-old couldn't manage. It was written a couple of years before Horowitz & Hill and, I would say, benefits from not simplifying the subject so as to make bite-sized pieces. It aspires to a higher quality of learning that is unafraid to address complexities, and is more thorough as a result. It has the best introduction/explanation of transistor action that I have yet seen, in spite of not looking at the Ebers Moll model early on (as H&H do). If you wanted to design discrete circuits, and not just reach straight for an op amp, then this book wins hands down on how to set your quiescent conditions and what techniques are available for setting bias voltages. It also matches H&H for clarity. Anyway, I have bought a second copy as a Xmas present for a former pupil (I teach friends' children from time to time) and we'll see what he makes of it. May I put in a shout for Lancaster's Active Filter Cookbook while I'm here? My copy is in about six different pieces it's so well thumbed, but while it supposedly covers filters (which it does admirably) it also gives you a great grounding in how to use op amps. If you ever do a video on books that you MUST have in your library, few are likely to be as deserving of inclusion as this one.

The book I recommend to people is Foundation's of Electronics Circuits & Devices by Russell Meade. Comes in two flavors, electron flow or conventional flow. Common book around here for technical / vocational schools and local community colleges. Covers all the basic theory and components which all the ones you showed seem to skip.

"Paynter's Intro to Electronic Devices and Circuits" and "Cook Intro DC/AC Electronics". These are textbooks I used when I was a student in electronics technician school.

Looking forward for episode about beginner textbooks! Despite the fact that learning basics from the web + some practice is probably the way to go.

In my 1st year we were using Boylstad's Introductory Circuit Analysis 13th edition for the Circuit Analysis I & II classes. Although I learned a great deal from it, I wasn't a big fan. My professors weren't either, and that lead them to choose another textbook for the following year. I was afforded the opportunity to peruse the book, and certainly found it more insightful. We also used Floyd's Digital Fundamentals 11th edition for the Digital Circuits class, and it will also be used for the Advanced Digital class. Good book, but the material was/is a little heavy. I consider myself more of an analog man (and enjoy analog a little more than digital), as my professors also noted as they observed how well I excelled in Circuit Analysis and Electronics. We also used Malvino's Electronic Principles 8th edition (same as used in this video) for the Electronics I class, and are currently using it for Electronics II. I do like the book, but I would like to see (w/all the books) a little more descriptive detail of practical applications. However, I have found that along with the textbooks, the resources available elsewhere (like your AWESOME channel) have helped me to excel in these subjects! I love electronics! AWESOME CHANNEL!

Sedra is in another class wrt the other three. It is aimed at Ic designers. The other ones are for people who want to design with discrete components and ICs as black boxes. Sedra is like a simplified version of Gray Meyer: it teaches you how to design what is in the black box .

First learned electron flow in school in the 70s and it took a great deal of effort to relearn electronics with conventional flow.

Boylestad Electricity, great book as well. Floyd Digital fundementals is simply awesome. The problem with scientists and mathematicians is that they cannot communicate with people even on literature. Floyd and Stroud are two authors that could communicate to the reader.

Great video. Shared with my EE friends.

This is an interesting subject to me. I started in electronics as a technician in the USMC, so I’ve always been trying to improve my understanding over the past 30 years. I’ve recently been purchasing historical books on electronics. Some of my favorites are Bode’s Network Analysis and Feedback Amplifier Design, Henney’s Radio Engineering Handbook, Terman’s Radio Engineer’s Handbook and Servomechanisms and Regulating System Design by Chestnut and Mayer. Except for Bode, I picked these up for less that $15 each. It’s amazing how much of the theory of electronics was already fully developed back in the tube era, even before the end of WWII.

Lots of people focusing on the mathyness of the Serra/Smith book but as someone who’s literally using that textbook (and bought it so i could retain my copy), it’s fantastic to be able to understand how the hell you can arrive at say, a small signal model, from the more obvious equations, along with how you would actually try adjusting parameters to make specific impacts. It’s one of the few references that actually goes deep enough to make itself valuable over the (surprisingly detailed) Wikipedia pages on various subjects. Coupled with Art of Electronics, you get a really good cross reference domain knowledge. Another super useful resource is the (FREE!!) book by the designer of the 555 timer IC, which you can get online and it covers IC circuits in detail as well, while spending a decent amount of time on the practicals. Found out about it recently and can’t recommend it enough.

I may be biased but I liked the more systematic mathematical approach of Sedra/Smith for university level electronics intro. It isn't really that hard to read, assuming you have taken classes in mathematical analysis, signals & systems, control theory, etc.

The missing diode graphics in Floyd - are what you see in the pirated version of the PDF.

Thanks to you, I've read the High Speed Digital Design. So much learned there. Even just for SMPS.

The AC & DC Circuits classes at my school (ACC Austin) use Introductory Circuit Analysis (13th Ed.) by Boylestad. I've really enjoyed the book. We have a lot of lab time and it's helped tons. For the digital stuff we use Digital Systems (12th Ed.) by Tocci and that book was superbly illuminating.

Thanks Dave, may show my professors this in hopes they adopt the floyd book vs the sedra.

Nearly spit out my tea when you held up the X chapters, been waiting for that one for years!

The main textbook I used for the subdject at that time (90's @ Universidade Coimbra - FCTUC) was "Microelectronics" 2nd edition by Jacob Millman and Arvin Grabel There was a portuguese version of it, divided into 2 books, all black printing (missing the original shades of blue in some graphics and schematics) and each book cost nearly as much as the single original textbook in english. I still have mine, like Dave's "Electronic Devices" 2nd edition, with the contact transparent plastic protection cover. :)

I'm going through Boylestad and its fantastic. He literally states that he doesn't want to go into extensive math. Love it! "The primary purpose of this text is to develop a general knowledge of the behavior, capabilities, and possible areas of application of a device in a manner that will minimize the need for extensive mathematical developments."

Dave, I would also suggest "Practical Electronics for Inventors, Fourth Edition" by Paul Scherz and Simon Monk. Great condensed coverage of all basics and circuits with an emphasis on building stuff :-)

I'm a nonprofessional, but I like to design circuits from the ground up. That means that I need to use design equations to pick components and component values that will work once the topology is defined. Math doesn't scare me. So, It sounds like Sedra/Smith might be the best for me. What does scare me about technical books is the errors. Some books, eg. Monk, "Practical Electronics for Inventors" or some such title, are so full of them that in places I really can't understand what the book is saying. There are outright contradictory statements in the descriptions of the various types of capacitors. Otherwise, I like Monk's approach to the more basic stuff, though the treatments of circuit designs are a bit spotty. And there no errata sheets in the 2nd edition. Doesn't he review his own book before coming out with a new edition. Anyway, Dave, I think that the frequency of errors in a book is a very important consideration that you overlooked.

Longer video - awesome. Had to give it a THUMBS UP! I hope you do more of them =)

While I myself originally learned with Albert Paul Melvino Electronic Principals ( 4th edition) and Foundations of Electronics by Russell L. Meade, the Floyd book is a great recommendation. Digital electronics: a practical approach with VHDL/William Kleitz.-9th ed. is a great choice for digital, as well as Floyd's Digital Fundamentals, Global Edition. While old school, the Heathkit series were amongst the very best and let's not forget electricity one-seven, Hayden.

Looking forward to seeing your book list for beginners

OMG! I recognize ALL of these texts! I had Floyd for a text at West LA College, Boyelstad AND Malvino at Univ. of Ark. at Little Rock, and my professor at UALR gave my friend and lab partner Abdallah the Sedra and Smith text as a gift for excelling in his class work!! These, as well as THE ART OF ELECTRONICS are some of the best text books in EE! Personally, I think Malvino's text is the best at explaining complicated circuits with a minimum of fuss. Sedra and Smith is best for gifted students.

I read the Sedra textbook cover to cover during undergrad. I agree with Dave mostly. In the context of my program, the math wasn't a barrier and complimented my other classes. With that said, in some places it felt like Sedra was just wedging in complexity to no practical gain. The worst example was the chapter on semiconductor physics (CH3). Yeeeesh. In an introductory design textbook, we don't need more then simple transistor modeling. An intro to semiconductor physics belongs in several semester long courses, not crammed into one chapter of an basic EE book.

I'll take Floyd any day of the week. I used the Floyd book shown in this video when I started learning about electronic devices in a community college course for my AS EET degree, and it made sense to most of the class. I also found them easy to read, easy to understand. My university uses the Sedra/Smith book. I see other students struggle with that book and it makes me glad I got to use Floyd instead to learn the material.

Adel Sedra was my 2nd year ECE 242 prof at Waterloo back in 2017

1:05 I think the PIC vs Atmel debate was definitively settled when Microchip acquired Atmel.

When i did my degree the course books were written by the tutors and the course built around them, nice little second income for them.

My university a decade ago used Sedra/Smitha, fortunately supplemented heavily with labs and practical material. By god, everyone in the class hated that textbook and sought out various other means to learn the material because it’s just impenetrable.

Very nice memories, I also have my electronic books still in my shelf as an degreed engineer technical informatics (computer engineering?) 1990. Now considering getting AoE & ARRL when now playing with Raspberry Pi. I started electronics as a german pupil in the late 1970s with Philips Electronics Kit (up to AM + FM Receiver) before becoming 1984 a professional Electronics Service Technician (Radios, HiFi-Stereo, TV, own build speaker boxes, alarm devices and their installation and camera monitoring devices) with german books from publisher Franzis & Elektor. In advance I studied electrical engineering + technical informatics with engineering books (publisher Vieweg, Hanser, Teubner, Springer), Analogue Multimeter and self built Analog Oscilloscope, Commodore C64 (extra 2nd ROM, userport I/O extensions), Sharp PC-1403 pocket computer (BASIC and matrix calculations), Atari ST1024 (Motorola mc68000) with graphical user interface and mouse and 3.5 " floppy discs - cheaper than Apples McIntosh & 1st Amiga 2000 and cheaper & better than all IBM PC clones to that time.

Electronic Circuits: Handbook for Design and Application by Ulrich Tietze (Author), Christoph Schenk (Author)

aaah nice to see my TAFE lecturer recommended the goodies! Hey Dave, I'm a newbie and loving learning electronics; especially when there's legends like you out there showing us real world demonstrations of things. I love the way you walk through tear downs as it's really helpful! I wondered if you would consider stooping low for us and do a video for all the noobs out there; on how to troubleshoot failed solar christmas lights? (that obviously have something more than the battery wrong with them!) It's a simple circuit compared to your usual shenanigans but I reckon heaps will benefit from it!

Very Useful video. Thankyou so much. I am so grateful.

New project for 2020 The Principles of Electronics by Dave Jones a textbook done the right way.

Sedra/Smith, my favorite authors from undergrad days !

At 11:42, I am going to say that programming and automated testing is a good idea because deciding how you are going to test what you design is, or should be, part of design.

Sedra/Smith was the one we used. I think it was pretty good. Had few head scratching mistakes in the some homework questions... Oh well...

I'm sure someone has already pointed it out but I believe in Floyd Av is explained to be the loaded voltage gain in the chapter on the basic BJT amplifiers. I think they use k for the open loop gain though maybe that was just my professor. Not something I'd expect you to see given it was just a casual thumb through the book though so fair enough.

Thank you. This was very helpful.

For "what is a resistor/capacitor/inductor... etc. ?" you buy "Electric Circuits" books. These shown are "Electronic Circuits" books. At least that's how the courses were arranged in our school ([Electric] Circuits 1 and 2, Electronic Circuits 1 and 2)...

I am looking for a good list of the basic circuits you need to know as a reference to use. Like filtering circuits, amplifying circuits etc. Preferably with a way to search by application or purpose. SO if you want to remove noise from a signal it will lead you to examples of filtering circuits etc. I think it would be useful for teaching beginners and even more advanced electronics.

Looking forward to the book review on electronic basics, DC/AC, circuits analyses.

Im going to order the art of electronics x book in 2020 😁. We used the sedra smitch book in our electronic course. That book was not my cup of tea.

We used Sedra and Smith in college and I found it really impenetrable.

The video host Dave said Sedra and smith is bad as it contains lot of math. I think it is really easy book with lot of "tools". It is easy for any person who has done some math in linear algebra and ODE's and differentiation and integration. The tools above are mini circuits which can be connected to form bigger circuits. The book teaches you how to build circuits, amplifiers in this way. I had been reading this book and it seems fairly easy. Some design problems take time as you need to be inventive in making circuits. The video host seems to come to conclusions quickly. For somebody who has completed Electronics/Electrical engineering degree twenty or thirty years ago, it may seem hard at first but if you re-aquaint yourself with engineering circuit analysis with books like Hayt, kemmerly Durbin and phillips and a Engineering math book like Kreyszing and a signals and systems book, the Sedra and Smith book is easy and also fun. The same might be said about Boylestad or others. This is my sincere review of the Sedra and smith book.

Hey Dave, I find your video interested but I think picking a book is quite hard. In my humble opinion, I have read many chapters of 3 of those 4 you showed, I didn't knew Malvino, and I am quite a fan of Sedra. Your approach really depends in your goal in electronics. As you said, starting in electronics is very hard. I think Boylestad Introduction to Circuit Theory is great on that: it covers passive electronics and basic stuff. Finally I would like to add that my top three in analog actice electronics are Sedra's, The Art of Electronics and Gray Meyers Analog Integrated Circuits Analysis.

I refer Sedra Smith. Thank You for the video..

I had a very rare book (rare in the UK, because it was an australian book) that was made even rarer because the entire time I was at one school I had it from the school library on a permanent loan and although it wasn't a reference book, I had very little resources to other suitable other books so I used it as such. Dick Smith would have been proud. His "Dick Smith's Fun Way into Electronics" was a winner for early learning during the 80's for a teenager. The only other books I'd have used as a companion to these was the complete collection of Forrest Mims Mini-Notebooks", and most importantly his "Getting Started in Electronics" book. However the books covered in the video are probably more suitable for someone a little older or with a better understanding of science/maths. I just take my time to understand why something is working in a certain way or why cause + cause = effect. Much too much for a 12-14 year old in most cases.

We used Malvino as a High School text and Sedra and Smith as a University 1st year EE text.

We used Sedra/Smith in my Microelectronics I class (op-amps, diodes, BJTs, MOSFETs, amps, Part 2 of that book IIRC) and I kind of hated it. I think it suffered from a very common problem in undergrad engineering textbooks where they only make sense after you understand the material. Once you learn something, you can never un-learn it, so fully looking at something from the perspective of newcomer must be very hard for a 70 year old engineer. I think that this results in textbooks that make total sense to the author but just don’t click with those who are totally new to the concepts in question. Another fault is that the didn’t use KCL or KVL once in the book. Meanwhile, our professor teaches the class by using KCL to analyze every single circuit he presents. When I was reading the textbook, I didn’t even realize why it felt so different until a few chapters in. And I definitely think it makes the book harder to read and learn from. Were they really not expecting students to know basic techniques? Or did they avoid them to avoid getting too “systematic?” Systematic problem solving is perfectly fine, and its usually better to start that way before attempting to ”Really Understand It”. This is coming from a 22 year old undergrad who has learned mostly from reading the textbooks. (I'm an old soul, I guess) It’s like teaching piano to someone and telling them you want them to really understand it so you don’t let them use a metronome. I don’t think learning works that way, I think brains are actually much more comfortable with the rote and systematic. Things tend to click AFTER you know you can handle them. Weird rant but, ugh, if they intentionally eschewed KCL in that book, that’s incredibly frustrating.

I have started in Argentina at 8 years old, reading a comic very little monthly magazine called Lupin. I think that very simple magazine has inspire thousands of engineers in Argentina. Now we know that those circuits were very rudimentary, but taught us the essential: the curiosity.... IN UNIVERSITY BOYLESTAD

Dave you should also disccus ARRL Handbook 2019, this book is amazing. It is a level of ART of Electronics. I have both and in some topics handbook is better. It is very comprehensive, over 1280 pages. ARRL Handbook 2019 and ART of Electronics are must for my everyday work.

I know they are old, but all the Electrical and Engineering Series of Mcgraw Hill (specially all the books by Terman, like Radio and Electronic Engineering and Electronic Measurements) I absolutely love.

i learned from malvinos book and accompanying workbook. found it quite easy to learn form

theelectronics course in university used Sedra and Smith and I felt exactly as you do about it, Dave

Storey - “Electronics A Systems Approach” is good. First year degree level, but designed to teach electronics, so takes things step-by-step.

I think we have a working understanding of something, but I think it would be a good idea to discover everything again with a different point of view. There has to be a better way to design/develop with current to do work.

Dave...I still have Floyd's Electronics Fundamentals, and his green Electronic devices that you have, as well. Also, Tocci's Digital Systems!

I agree with Dave on this one. Everyone that want to know the formulas for the electronic, I always tell them that they shot lean basic electronic component and circuit before google some formulas for the circuit, especial if they only have worked with computers and Arduino.

At undergraduate level they use Hambley (Electrical Engineering: Principles & Applications, Global Edition), seems to work well for the basics.

very neat book review. thanks💯