5 comments about Delmar's Standard Textbook of Electricity.

1. Excellent textbook. Presented in a textbook format with plenty of pictures, easy to read and understand. Linear learning curve. Explains ins and outs of electronics and electricity basics, easy math (no two-page formula derivations!). I found it a great resource for brushing up for my electronics tech certification. Recomend to anyone who wants to know how electricity operates, with references to real life. Straight to the point (thorough basics, and minimum fuss).



2. I've used different revisions of this book for years as I've progressed through my schooling in the electrical trade. This book is easy to read with many helpful illustrations. (yes I like books with pictures) This is the best textbook on electricity I've seen.



3. This book was puchased for a class. It was a good selection for a textbook. It is written clearly and has many pictures and examples to further explain the theory. There are helpful summaries and review questions at the end of each unit. A great overall textbook.



4. The textbook that I purchased was exactly what I needed for my class. It was in PERFECT condition and I got it quickly. The purchase process was very easy and and the book was delivered as I had anticipated. Thanks!



5. This is an AWFUL textbook. One person in our class has the 2nd edition, and it doesn't have any of these mistakes! The THIRD edition is a piece of GARBAGE! It was so difficult trying to comprehend complex formulas when the examples given arent even correct! Wrong values, wrong, math, wrong symbols, mislabeling...and we're only to chapter 30 so far.
   
   Simple things are OVER covered to the point of exhaustion, but when the chapter on filters came up, there was nothing to give examples of how to figure out how to do the problems at the end of the chapter. Power factor correction is barely glanced upon, and the author gives complex formulas when basic Ohms law could be used instead.
   
   If you use the 3rd edition in your classroom, PLEASE verify with your instructor so you dont struggle with the homework for no reason

5 comments about Data Communications and Networking (McGraw-Hill Forouzan Networking).

1. I bought Behrouz's data Communications and Networking (4th ed) book for self-study purpose. I found it to be an excellent book. It is not wordy but still very detailed. It has a lot of figures and diagrams to explain the concepts. You can hardly find a page without graphics. The concepts are clearly explained with minimal use of math. You can download very nice power points from publisher's website. If you want to learn about networking, then this is a book worth every penny spent on it. I highly recommend it.



2. If you're looking for a book which includes a heavy introduction to data communication, then you should consider this book.
   
   If you are hunting more info on networking, I'd suggest you look elsewhere. All topics are introductary and not conclusive enough to be anything but theory knowledge.
   
   Beware on differenet versions as well, as there exists a localized copy of this book for every country in the world, all which vary content.



3. I conducted a full book research for an undergraduate networking class I'll be teaching, and this volume quickly rose to the top, and stayed there. It may not be perfect for a strongly math-centric or engineering-based curriculum, but it's perfect for IT/IS and general CS. It is the textbook I wish I had when I took my first undergraduate and even graduate level networking class in college. This is also a book that I actually enjoy reading and flipping through--a prerequisite for students. There is no doubt for me that this book will stand the test of time as a reference book for them through the coming years.
   
   This book is well organized, well written, well researched, comprehensive, and is consistently high quality across the board (table of contents, end of chapter material, glossary, index, illustrations, figures, tables, callouts, boxes, etc.). Please, I challenge you to refer me to a book with a better glossary, or as up-to-date content as MT-RJ connectors (with a Figure, no less!) The website for the book is also top-notch! Students can take a chapter quiz, have it electronically graded, and submit the results via email to themselves and to me. Guess what we're going to do at the end of class? ;-)
   
   The layout and color scheme of the book is surprisingly conducive to learning, something you can't say about every textbook. There is more than enough stuff for a good professor to be able to fill a basic networking class.
   
   Probably the only thing I found lacking, and this is for professors, not readers or students, was a more thorough pedagogical discussion of proposed curriculum paths and sequences for professors to consider. Most will go their own way, but it is helpful up front to know why the author(s) organized the way they did, included what they did (vs. specific model curricula), and what the ramifications might be of moving things around, etc. Personally, I'll be de-emphasizing chapters 6, 8, 10, 11, 17, 18, 22, 24, and 29--FWIW! But that's just me... I also would have liked to have seen, somewhere (even if it was online), a practical primer for students, on how to use Hyperterm, for example, and links to some free utilities for network monitoring, etc. If that was there, I haven't ran across it yet. Oh, and possibly a discussion of certification paths, for those that are interested. But then again, professors shouldn't be handed everything on a platter. So those are minor criticisms.
   
   This was an easy textbook to adopt, and I am quite sure the students will greatly benefit from the work Behrouz and his technical review team did on this great text. I am not always easily impressed, but in this case I was.



4. This textbook is one of the worst I have used in a long time. The only good thing about it is a clean layout. The text is not clear and the explanations are sparse. Forouzan covers too many topics in too few pages.



5. Fourazon attempts to take a beautiful science and simplify it down to something that can be memorized, summed up in one-liners, and given to students without even to attempting to explain the why or how behind the different techniques.
   
   In an overzealous attempt to simplify the (admittedly hefty) subject matter of digital and analog signals and conversion between them, Forouzan makes the mistake of giving bullet-like descriptions and analysis of the different techniques and methods; never pausing to explain where they're used, their relative advantages and disadvantages, why/how they work, or even the purposes they serve.
   
   The straight-forward memorization sections of the book (descriptions of protocols, their various implementations, etc.) is pretty good - at the very least, difficult to find obvious fault in. But anything even remotely related to mathematics, electronics, or basic engineering is very-skimpily explained.
   
   "Data Communications and Networking" reads more like a cliffnotes guide than anything else - Fourozan even goes as far as to repeat important sentences that "need to be committed to memory" in cute blue boxes several times per page.
   
   If you want to learn Data Communication, you would be best-served to look for a better guide.

5 comments about 101 Spy Gadgets for the Evil Genius.

1. One will need an electronics background to understand this book. The author has some amazingly great ideas, I just wish I could understand half of what he wrote! I persuaded my uncle, who is an engineer, to explain them to me. This book is not meant for laymen. The series needs a prequel teaching the basics of electronics, and the parts the book that try to explain electronic basics is still too advanced for us regular people. So either take a class in 'electronics 101' or have an electronic engineer tutor you in this book. Too demanding for my intellect. However, it still deserves 5 stars for innovation.



2. I got this for my friend's 16 year old son and he LOVES it! He is so excited about just knowing how all these things work, even though his mother refuses to let him into a Radio Shack in case he tries to build some of it! I've made him promise not to use any of his evil knowledge against our family and in return, I'll get him book 2 for his birthday! Great fun!



3. This is a fun book, with lots of great ideas. However, it really needed tighter editing. There are several instances where the text did not agree with the schematics (schematic has 50K ohm pot, text discusses 50 ohm, etc). This is unfortunate, since novice readers may not spot the problems, and end up with circuits which don't work.
   
   I'd also recommend a more traditional, left-to-right layout of the schematics. Some are left-right top-down, others are right-left. This makes it more difficult to follow the "flow" through the circuits.
   
   Regardless of these hiccups, I'd recommend this book to those who'd like to tinker with "spy gear" or who are looking for simplier project ideas.



4. In this world where unexpected suprises are not always welcome - and if your thoughts lean toward keeping an eye on things, this publication will certainly help. There are chapters the younger set would appreciate as well the seasoned info gatherer will not hesitate to start putting something together.
   Not electronic savvy? Not a concern. Just a few of the ideas presented here will get you headed in the right direction with property protection, keeping tabs, and real time viewing scenarios.
   
   Before reading this I thought; "Get a camera, put it up, check it once in awhile." Wrong. This easy reading material will get you thinking in important directions about surveilance you probably haven't thought of previously, unless you were a professional.



5. Great book! I give it five stars! Fun projects you can build cheaply using stuff you find in thrift stores or for free if you are willing to look inside Salvation Army dumpsters! Projects are great if you are a private eye, company internal security guy, or a kid who wants to really bother your family, friends and neighbors! On the more serious side,if you are into nature, you could probably use alot of the night scope and amplified ear stuff for bird/ animal monitoring. Be rational using this stuff! You could get in trouble if you follow your evil genius side! But...that's why you are looking at this book isn't it...MAH!, HA!, HA!, and HA!

5 comments about Signal Processing and Linear Systems.

1. This is truly a superior book for teaching Signals and Systems. It far outpaces the competition in my mind, especially in terms of conceptual descriptions, examples, and readability. It was the only text (I have looked at the most popular 6) that I found that is written in a coherent and readable manner, such that it could serve as a standalone self-paced tutorial.

   I am teaching this course for the first time this fall and found almost every one of my student's (and mine) conceptual and mathematical questions answered clearly by this text. I naively adopted Oppenheim since it is a classic, but that text truly pales in comparison.
   Examples of things I appreciate in Lathi:
   1) It serves as an excellent reference book, with a background mathematics section, tables of transforms and properties.
   2) It generally starts each subject at the right point (e.g., with the trigonometic Fourier Series) to give student better conceptual understanding. I doesn't skip the basics.
   3) It answers many common conceptual questions like "What is the meaning of negative frequencies in the FT?", "What do complex numbers mean physically?"
   4) I love the history and wit (Is it a sin to make a textbook readable and even enjoyable?)
   5) A lot of references to real engineering applications. For example, a REAL chapter on DIGITAL FILTER DESIGN.

   I could go on, but it is obvious that the author put a great deal of care into this text and even the solutions CD. This, for upper-level undergraduate texts, in my opinion, is truly rare (see however, "Griffiths" and "Zahn" for E&M)

   NOTE: By the way, for a previous reviewer, Ms. Chaston, in my text, the appendices are located on pages 161, 222, 356, 457, and 609.
   
   Finally, I must admit that my own stupid prejudice cost me from adopting this textbook this year. I thought to myself, can a book written by a man with the name "Bhagawandas Pannalal" truly write this eloquently in English? As I get more in depth into the book, the answer is clearly YES and more.




2. this is a gem of a book on this subject no need to waste ur time reading abtruse and unfriendly books,the writer of this books comes down to the understanding of average student to explain the beautifull ideas of this subject.he is crystal clear about the subject and i have not found any book as good as this . he gives a good brushing up review in mathematics which is very very helpful.take my my advice ur money is safe in buying it .to do more numerical problems u can refer to A.V Oppenheim(a more difficult book).
   rohit



3. The Lathi book is fine, and covers both continuous and discrete signals, but is a little hard to read at times. A better book that covers both is the one by Oppenheim & Willsky. And if you want a much better book for the discrete side of things then get Discrete-Time Signal Processing by Oppenheim, Schafer, & Buck.



4. This book clearly explains the physical significance of many phenomenon and topics that we come across in this subject. The most striking feature is that it does so from the fundamental linear differential equation and gives us very good insight of the subject and a sense of completeness . Definitely its better than Oppenheim book which deals the subject a bit more mathematical.



5. This book is the best available in market to understand the basics of Signal Processing with crisp explanations and very good mathematical treatment. Still I feel that, after reading this book one must switch to EITHER the book by Proakis and Manolakis OR the book by Oppenheim for more thorough knowledge. The knowledge gained from Prof Lathi's book makes others easy to comprehend. I would strongly recommend this book to any novice in Signal Processing domain.

1 comments about Practical Photovoltaics: Electricity from Solar Cells.

1. Practical Photovoltaics is one of the finest, most comprehensive guides to the world of solar energy. The book starts with a beginer's course in solid state physical devices (which taught even an Electrical Engineer such as myself new things) and leads into the history of solar cell materials and procedures over the years. Next comes an in-depth discussion of the various types of materials, and how they are suited for different applications. He makes logical predictions about the future of some of these materials, and hints around at what new techniques scientists are starting to look at today.
   In the appendix, he even describes how to assemble your own array of solar cells for those who wish to try a hands-on approach to learning.
   Oh, yeah, one more thing: he has a decent list of recomended readings at the end of each chapter, allowing you to select topics that interest you to continue your reading.

5 comments about Absolute Beginner's Guide to iPod and iTunes, 3rd Edition.

1. Everything you need to know and more. This should be include with the purchase of an IPOD



2. I am new to the ipod experience. All the kids have had them for sometime. I was confused on all the little details which now seem simple due to this easy to read and understand book. Recommend it to all.



3. The iPod is an intuitive device and most folks need only play with it to use most functions. The same thing is true for iTunes. It's when you have gone beyond the obvious and hit a snag or an annoyance that you find whether a reference is useful or not. This books does well at anticipating "second level" issues and provides good guidance. A good example is"compilations" which affects how you browse and hot music is organized. Through the index, I zeroed right in on how this works and setting it to my preference. I would recommend you start with this book whether an absolute beginner or just in need of a reference.



4. I knew absolutely nothing about iTunes or iPods..... This book is excellent - it's helped me sort everything out. It's clear, written in as simple language as you get with anything to do with computers and what I really love is that my screen actually matches the illustrations in the book. I'd recommend it to anyone starting out.



5. to have to admit that I knew absolutely nothing about iPods other than what they were and that they looked rather cool.
   
   But I'll never have to admit that again. This book is great for those of us who are "absolute beginners". I think it may even prove helpful to people who have a good understanding of the function of iPods but get really messed up in the organization of their iTunes libraries.
   
   The book is broken down into three sections; iPods, iTunes, and iTunes store. The author covers each section thoroughly and yet keeps it light and entertaining.
   
   The book has really helped to get me started with a good basic, maybe even advanced?, understanding of all things iPod.

5 comments about Electric Motors & Drives.

1. The best book I have read on motors and drives. The narrative explains the concepts clearly, and the mathematics is basic and focused on the important points.
   
   I have been interested in electric automobiles and this book provides an excellent foundation on basic motors and the power drive systems.
   
   I highly recommend this book. Well worth the investment. Top notch for anyone's library.



2. I own several books on motors and drives, and have worked with industrial robots and their motor controls/feedback for several years. This book is the best resource I have found to clearly explain motor concepts, including the operation of the different types of motors, and the considerations surrounding the design of the drive electronics. Highly recommended.



3. It would be difficult to overstate how really good this book is. If you work with motors or want to know more about how electric motors work, BUY THIS BOOK. There is just enough math to make the explanations understandable without getting swamped (for an in-depth mathematical treatment, see Electric Machinery and Transformers (The Oxford Series in Electrical and Computer Engineering)).
   
   I especially found the chapters on the fundamentals of motor magnetics (Chapter 1), DC motors (Chapter 3), and induction motors (Chapter 5) the most enlightening because they clearly explain why/how motors work. These chapters only make the book well worth it's price.
   
   I would like to have seen a few example circuit schematics for a dc and/or an ac drive but these are probably topics better left for another book.



4. By far the best drive book I bought. I recommend this book to everyone. From beginner to expert. It is well explained.



5. This truly remarkable book has done much to elucidate the fundamental principles of motors and drives in the plainest terms. The focus is on DC motor and induction motor. It also covers stepper motor and synchronous motor. Its explanation of the induction motor is second to none. The mechanisms are explained clearly not shrouded in the complex mathematical formulation.
   
   I was initially disappointed to find scanty discussion on brushless DC motor, but soon I realize that once I understand induction motor, synchronous motor which BLDC motor is a subclass is relatively trivia.

No comments about Student Activities Manual for Conexiones: Comunicacin y cultura.

5 comments about Interior Lighting, Fourth Edition.

1. The book begins with an inspirational and somewhat simplistic insight into lighting design. Simply as a study of lighting contrasts. While this is a very important aspect of LD, it is by far one of many concepts a professional must use. The book refers to many technical aspects of lighting without giving any "meat" or more in depth information, which I would have enjoyed. If you are new to LD or are an architect or engineer who has little experience with lighting, it is a very good lauching point. If you are technically knowledgable about lighting and want some inspiration, read chapter 1 and the last chapter on Design for concepts



2. While I was studying Interior Design at Parsons a number of years ago, I had Gary Gordon as a Lighting Design Instructor. He was by far one the best teachers that I had. He is very knowledgeable and has the unique ability to easily communicate the many aspects of both design and lighting. I highly recommend any publication he has authored.



3. This is a required book for an introductory lighting class I'm taking. Since we are solely relying on this book and it isn't supplemented with lecture material, I find that, without familiarity with lighting terminology and concepts, it is very difficult to understand -- very cryptic with the seemingly overused language of the field. While the author may be very knowledgeable, I feel the book is not very well written and the target audience is, perhaps, not intended to be, essentially, the layman. I don't find the organization of ideas and concepts to be clearly laid out or communicated well and, as they unfold, and I come to understand what the author is trying to say, wonder why it was made so difficult -- is that all he means, geesh and why didn't he tell me that earlier. It would be easier to understand the general concept of things first, even in plain English perhaps, and then go on to a more technical description to learn the language of the field and get the details. Just seems to make simple things very complicated, especially with the language, flow of ideas, and phrasing.
   
   I also find a lot of the graphic figures and photo examples need some clarification or more details. A picture's supposed to be worth a thousand words, not be cryptic and time-consuming to understand.
   
   Sorry, I would not recommend this for students who are not primed first. Especially the younger ones.



4. This is a great lighting design book, lots of graphical explanations, lots of useful information, a must-buy for any kind of interior designer!



5. This is an excellent reference for any designer. The text is in simple language and makes lighting concepts very easy to comprehend. I actually enjoyed reading it and will be a better lighting designer because of it.

5 comments about Modern Control Engineering (4th Edition).

1. This book helped me a lot while I was studing Control Theory at college. It has very clear examples and it is well written.



2. A true introductory book on Control Engineering
   
   I love this book. The book is written in a very clear and readable way. All topics explanations are simple to understand. All examples are shown step by step, so you can really understand the ideas and applications associated with each one.
   
   Katsuhiko Ogata's book is unbeatable as an introductory textbook for Control Systems at the undergraduate level. This was my text book in college, so I can recommend it base on my first hand learning experience.



3. Great book but lacks application problems. I am told this book is more for an indepth analysis of topics already learned from other coureses with the addition of Observers,state observer feedback, Intro to the use of Kalman filters, state variable feedback, and optimization. The optimization section could be better but if you have a great teacher its a good reference. I had used this book as an undergrad and told its a reference for grad students.



4. As a student taking a class taught by this text, I can confirm that this book is one of the most poorly written textbooks I have ever used. I suppose I wouldn't feel qualified to comment if I hadn't received the only A in the class on our last midterm. The author does not define his jargon adequately and does not list important vocabulary items in the index; thus the reader cannot find definitions in the text without riffling through every page. The examples are not just plentiful, they're the only thing in there. Except for the ambiguous prefaces on every chapter, there are very few explanations of the motivation for anything, which leaves the students in the class asking "open loop or closed-loop transfer function?" several times in the chapter on frequency response. It's true some pages contain a step-by-step process of what to do, but many times the idioms describing the inputs, the equations or the results analysis simply aren't defined and have to be divined. The combination of, for instance, the Routh Stability Criterion and MatLab code make this book an uncoordinated jumble of modern, computerized, mindless control-design algorithms and imprecise, antiquated, slide-rule level guesswork. Comparing this to, say, Vallado or Otsuka, Ogata holds no candle. Our professor commented that after using this book in school himself, he failed the class, had to re-take it, become the TA for it in grad school before he understood it. Regardless of the quality of the professor, well-written textbooks don't leave people with that experience. If there is a better text, please someone drop a hint; all I know is, this one ain't it.



5. As an undergrad Electrical Engineer, I wish I had found this book sooner! In the first few chapters, Ogata concisely (yet thoroughly) explains everything that was taught in two semesters' worth of signal theory and complex linear algebra. The explanations are complete and Ogata doesn't cut corners with the dreaded "it is easily shown that..." cop-out many technical text authors use to drive us undergrads slowly insane.
   
   Furthermore, he goes out of his way to show the relationships between ideas and reinforce properties and behaviors introduced earlier in the book. Whether you're looking for a powerful and fast introduction to control theory with linear systems (the first few chapters) or a desk reference for advanced material (the later chapters), this is the book for you.