Description
Everyone uses electronic devices, but most of us don’t really know what goes on inside them.
You may feel that you don’t need to know. You can drive a car without understanding the workings of an internal combustion engine, so why should you learn about electricity and electronics?
I think there are three reasons:
By learning how technology works, you become better able to control your world instead of being controlled by it. When you run into problems, you can solve them instead of feeling frustrated by them.
Learning about electronics can be fun, so long as you approach the process in the right way. It is also very affordable.
Knowledge of electronics can enhance your value as an employee, or perhaps even lead to a whole new career.
Learning by Discovery
Most introductory guides begin by using definitions and theory to explain some fundamental concepts. Circuits are included to demonstrate what you have been told.
Science education in schools often follows a similar plan. I think of this as learning by explanation.
This book works the other way around. I want you to dive right in and start putting components together without necessarily knowing what to expect. As you see what happens, you will figure out what’s going on. This is Learning by Discovery, which I believe is more fun, more interesting, and more memorable.
Working on an exploratory basis, you run the risk of making mistakes. But I don’t see this as a bad thing, because mistakes are a valuable way to learn. I want you to burn things out and mess things up, to see for yourself the behavior and limitations of the parts that you are dealing with. The very low voltages used throughout this book may damage sensitive components, but will not damage you.
The key requirement of Learning by Discovery is that it has to be hands-on. You can derive some value from this book merely by reading it, but you will enjoy a much more valuable experience if you perform the experiments yourself.
Fortunately, the tools and components that you need are inexpensive. Hobby electronics should not cost significantly more than a recreation such as needlepoint, and you don’t need a workshop. Everything can be done on a tabletop.
Will It Be Difficult?
I assume that you’re beginning with no prior knowledge. Consequently, the first few experiments will be extremely simple, and you won’t even use prototyping boards or a soldering iron.
I don’t believe that the concepts will be hard to understand. Of course, if you want to study electronics more formally and do your own circuit design, that can be challenging. But in this book I have kept theory to a minimum, and the only math you’ll need will be addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. You may also find it helpful (but not absolutely necessary) if you can move decimal points from one position to another.