****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
I have been studying this text on my own, and find it to be quite a challenge. The subject concerns "quantum" devices, such as transistors. These are nonlinear devices, and most of the text seems to address discussing various linear approximations for technological applications. I like to dedicate several hours of study each day to the text. The authors expend a great deal of effort in gradually unfolding the subject, and in such a way as not to overwhelm the reader.The text is very long. Studying it can sometimes get to be quite a drain, and I think that avoiding some of the end-of-chapter problems on a first reading might be a good strategy. I have been solving all of the problems posed in the course of reading a chapter, and spend a great deal of attention to the tables and figures in the book. This makes for slow progress, and I have seen that sometimes I am able to cover no more than ten pages of the text in a day's work. This has been a difficult subject for me (and not simply because I am studying on my own without the help of teachers or tutors), but I have found the mathematical models to be quite interesting, and the math, despite being fairly simple and basic, is pretty. (Linear approximations can be surprisingly pretty.) Progress often involves tedious, hard work. Sometimes I make mistake after mistake, before achieving understanding and solving problems. This is certainly the down side to studying a field on one's own. One advantage to studying on your own is that you tend to invent your own methods and original insights come as well. On the other hand, I cannot recommend this book as a hobby, but the subject is very important if you have certain interests and worth some dedicated effort. I do definitely see that it has improved my understanding and appreciation of electronics.It is important to go beyond the mathematical models to an intuitive understanding. This has come gradually for me from working at this book through hundreds of pages. Seeing beyond the mathematical formulas is a struggle. On balance, I often feel that I have made just modest progress, with each step forward only a small victory in learning, but overall this book has also been wonderfully insightful, and has given me a deep appreciation for electrical engineering. I have learned to love this subject, despite the hardship. I gave the book four stars instead of five, because I think that the authors have made the book (either intentionally or unintentionally) somewhat more difficult than is warranted by the subject matter.The authors cram too many details into their book, without enough solid explanations. In my view, this leads to mere memorization of formulas, without any real understanding of concepts or intuition about circuits. Because of this, once one has grasped the basics of what the authors are discussing, it is often warranted just to skip ahead in the book sometimes, and return to a skipped section only later if it proves necessary. I am not claiming that these authors are guilty of the following, but sometimes authors write books for the matured student (possibly to attract teachers to select a textbook more than its value to students) rather than the student at a juvenile stage when he or she is naïve, and would benefit more from a focus on understanding and intuition, rather than memorization. Later, when a student has mastered a field, a book that lays out formula after formula, with decent illustrations, such as this book, can be handy for reference. However, it is of only limited value for the initiate. On the other hand, there are few students who are capable of much more than memorization at a beginning level, and, if truth be told, a beginning student often prefers memorization (which will get them decent grades) over struggling to develop understanding and intuition. Thus, overall, I feel that the authors have done about as good a job as possible, given conflicting demands at the beginning level.
