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Charles Platt
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Make: Electronics: Learn by Discovery Paperback – 17 Dec. 2009

by Charles Platt (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 636 ratings
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"This is teaching at its best!"

--Hans Camenzind, inventor of the 555 timer (the world's most successful integrated circuit), and author of Much Ado About Almost Nothing: Man's Encounter with the Electron (Booklocker.com)

"A fabulous book: well written, well paced, fun, and informative. I also love the sense of humor. It's very good at disarming the fear. And it's gorgeous. I'll be recommending this book highly."

--Tom Igoe, author of Physical Computing and Making Things Talk

Want to learn the fundamentals of electronics in a fun, hands-on way? With Make: Electronics, you'll start working on real projects as soon as you crack open the book. Explore all of the key components and essential principles through a series of fascinating experiments. You'll build the circuits first, then learn the theory behind them!

Build working devices, from simple to complexYou'll start with the basics and then move on to more complicated projects. Go from switching circuits to integrated circuits, and from simple alarms to programmable microcontrollers. Step-by-step instructions and more than 500 full-color photographs and illustrations will help you use -- and understand -- electronics concepts and techniques.

  • Discover by breaking things: experiment with components and learn from failure
  • Set up a tricked-out project space: make a work area at home, equipped with the tools and parts you'll need
  • Learn about key electronic components and their functions within a circuit
  • Create an intrusion alarm, holiday lights, wearable electronic jewelry, audio processors, a reflex tester, and a combination lock
  • Build an autonomous robot cart that can sense its environment and avoid obstacles
  • Get clear, easy-to-understand explanations of what you're doing and why
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  1. ISBN-10
    9780596153748
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0596153748
  3. Edition
    First Edition
  4. Publisher
    Maker Media Inc
  5. Publication date
    17 Dec. 2009
  6. Language
    English
  7. Dimensions
    20.32 x 1.78 x 24.77 cm
  8. Print length
    334 pages
  9. See all details
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Product description

About the Author

Charles Platt is a former science fiction writer (his best known book is probably The Silicon Man) who switched to journalism and became a senior writer for Wired magazine. Currently running a small R&D business in Florida, Platt pursues portrait photography as a spare-time interest, and is a longtime fan of Hong Kong martial arts movies. His favorite show is Viva La Bam on MTV. His interest in MAKE-ing gadgets began when he build a tic-tac-toe computer from telephone relays in 1966. Charles is a regular contributor to MAKE and is a well-known name to MAKE readers.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0596153740
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Maker Media Inc; First Edition (17 Dec. 2009)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 334 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780596153748
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0596153748
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 20.32 x 1.78 x 24.77 cm
  • Customer reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 636 ratings

About the author

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Charles Platt

Charles Platt

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Charles Platt is a Contributing Editor and regular columnist for Make magazine, where he writes about electronics. He is the author of the highly successful introductory hands-on book, Make: Electronics, and the sequel, Make: More Electronics.

His book Easy Electronics claims to be the easiest available introduction to the field. His Make: Tools provides a hands-on introduction to workshop tools.

Platt's ambitious reference work, Encyclopedia of Electronic Components, consists of three volumes, two of which were coauthored with physicist Fredrik Jannson.

Platt was a Senior Writer for Wired magazine. As a prototype designer, he created semi-automated rapid cooling devices with medical applications, and air-deployable equipment for first responders. He was the sole author of four mathematical-graphics software packages, and has been fascinated by electronics since he put together a telephone answering machine from a tape recorder and military-surplus relays at age 15. He lives in a Northern Arizona wilderness area, where he has his own workshop for prototype fabrication and projects that he writes about for Make magazine.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
636 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the book filled with straightforward, easy-to-follow information. They mention it encourages experimentation and provides guidance for experiments. Readers also appreciate the illustrations, saying they're clear pictures essential for beginners. Overall, customers say the book is well worth the price and a great buy.

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Ease of useExperimentationIllustrationsValue for moneyFun
49 customers mention ‘Ease of use’49 positive0 negative

Customers find the book filled with straightforward, easy-to-simulate information. They say it spells out the basics in clear language and the schematics are very easy to follow. Readers mention the book starts off with the easy stuff and gets progressively more complicated. They appreciate that it provides a strong non-technical explanation for each component and its functionality. In addition, they say it's perfect for beginners in electronics and is structured going from the most basic to the most advanced.

"...well illustrated and the suggested experiments are interesting and help you learn. The problem is that it is written with US suggestions for parts...." Read more

"...This is made easier by the many boxes, which give practical or historical insight but can be skipped over on subsequent reading...." Read more

"...from things held together with crocodile clips which are easy to put together quickly through the use of breadboards and on to soldered projects..." Read more

"...This book explains the fundamental electrical skills you need to know, but in the highly competitive studies you may feel embarrassed to admit you..." Read more

14 customers mention ‘Experimentation’14 positive0 negative

Customers find the book encourages experimentation and provides guidance for experiments. They say it has the right balance of practical experiments, gentle humor, and hard facts. Readers also mention that the book is very useful for learning about electronics. They mention it provides a whole range of useful, important information, including mysteries uncovered.

"...It is clearly written and well illustrated and the suggested experiments are interesting and help you learn...." Read more

"...The book focuses on learning through experience and encourages the reader to experiment with the circuits within the book...." Read more

"...in excellent condition ,purchased at a low price and very useful for learning about electronics." Read more

"...The illustrations are first class. A whole range of useful, important information is contained in this book: such as who and when..." Read more

13 customers mention ‘Illustrations’13 positive0 negative

Customers find the book well-illustrated, with many full-color illustrations and excellent photographs of the components. They also appreciate the clear pictures essential for beginners.

"...It is clearly written and well illustrated and the suggested experiments are interesting and help you learn...." Read more

"...The book is well illustrated and has some excellent photographs of the components you'll be using...." Read more

"...But, there is much to like, it is well illustrated, with a lot of example circuits, gives a very good grounding in electronics and is an enjoyable..." Read more

"...The book is filled with illustrations that helps to grasp the concepts that are explained...." Read more

6 customers mention ‘Value for money’6 positive0 negative

Customers find the book well worth the price and a great buy.

"The 2nd hand book was in excellent condition ,purchased at a low price and very useful for learning about electronics." Read more

"...properly, arrived at a reasonable time(from the USA), price was excellent , value for money o yes!!..." Read more

"Brilliant buy and would buy again. Such a great book for beginners, very easy to follow and a prompt delivery. Gold stars all around" Read more

"...Well worth the price." Read more

5 customers mention ‘Fun’5 positive0 negative

Customers find the book fun.

"...It's great fun as well." Read more

"Yeah! Coool! Great fun!" Read more

"Lots of Mysteries uncovered. Great fun." Read more

"A great book makes learning electronics simple and fun" Read more

Top reviews from United Kingdom

Martin E
5.0 out of 5 stars A great start
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 28 September 2012
Verified Purchase
This is the best introduction to practical electronics I have found. It is clearly written and well illustrated and the suggested experiments are interesting and help you learn. The problem is that it is written with US suggestions for parts. There is a parts kit available from a US shipper for chapters 1-4 but it is expensive and the shipping costs significant especially if you get hit with customs/VAT. Instead I ordered nearly all the parts from Maplin: their GCSE component kit is an excellent start and then you only need to add a few switches and potentiometers. If you read ahead a few chapters you can find what you need and Maplin have a small minimum order quantity. I thought the last chapter got a little esoteric and the computing part has dated quickly. However all in all, I strongly recommend this.
In case it helps others, I recommend as a next step: Hands on Electronics: A practical introduction to Analog and Digital Circuits by Kaplan and White. It deals very well with the bits this book skims over, particularly transitors and op amps. You will need a scope and will have to cobble together the right power supplies or buy an bench unit but there are good value versions available on Amazon (Rigol scope and Basetech BT-305 power supply are good).
A good text book will also help. I resisted buying the bible, The Art of Electronics by HandH, for ages because it is ridiculously expensive and out of date, but finally succumbed and did not regret it. The explanations and exercises are outstanding and only the component lists and computing parts date really badly.
11 people found this helpful
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Mr_Zambezi
5.0 out of 5 stars Patiently leads you through the basics
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 13 January 2014
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Having bought a Raspberry Pi last summer, I wanted to explore its potential to interface with the outside world and that meant, learn some electronics. After a couple of false starts, I found this book. Some of the reviews told me that this American book makes reference to American suppliers. This is true but in the real world, we need to source our own components. These all seem to be available from Amazon, Farnell or Maplin, I just need to trawl through their websites. Where American & European conventions differ, in the use of some symbols for instance, the book is careful to give both versions.

This book needs to be read three times: First to find out what you will be doing and to order the components, second to rig up the circuit and actually do it and third, when you have moved on but need a reminder of how a technique worked. This is made easier by the many boxes, which give practical or historical insight but can be skipped over on subsequent reading. I like the progression which the book follows. For instance, Chapter 2 is on switching and starts with a simple switch, bringing in "pole" and "throw" before moving to a relay, a switch which is moved electronically. The flow brings in capacitors before moving to transistor switching and before you know it, you are building electronic circuits.

Stick with this book and you will learn how to think about electronics. I already feel less daunted by the GPIO on my Raspberry Pi and by the end of the book, I expect to have the ability to build something to connect to it.
3 people found this helpful
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Sue R
4.0 out of 5 stars A good introduction to electronics
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 1 October 2012
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My 11 year old son received this as a birthday present as he had become interested in digital electronics - one of his school books had demonstrated a 'full adder' in comic-strip fashion and he decided he wanted to have a go and build one for himself.

The book is well illustrated and has some excellent photographs of the components you'll be using. The writing style is easy to follow and in-depth background information is included in optional sections. I like the way that the circuits being built evolve from things held together with crocodile clips which are easy to put together quickly through the use of breadboards and on to soldered projects building skills and knowledge on the way. One minor criticism is that although the author lists the parts needed for projects at the start of each section it isn't always that clear how vital they are to the main thrust of the book, some are only there to be destroyed and some for one side project.

As to the audience of the book, my son has loved it. We are about a third of the way through and he was thrilled with his first breadboard project, a siren with two stage amplification built from transistors. He is looking forward to the later parts where he starts to play with logic gates and can make his full-adder, but also to making a little amplifier for his MP3 player.

As an American book it can be tricky to find the exact match for some of the parts and it is worth shopping around for internet based sellers for the components. I'd estimate that we've spent about £50 on parts so far (thank goodness he got some Birthday money!) and that should cover the first half to two thirds of the book. Costs can be cut by not buying project boxes and using bits and pieces from around the house.

Overall I'd recommend this book, I've learned a lot from it and my son has thoroughly enjoyed it, more so than the Cambridge Brainbox style of clip together electronic kits that he had tried before.
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Top reviews from other countries

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Marcos Pizzolatto
5.0 out of 5 stars Muito bom.
Reviewed in Brazil on 7 July 2015
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Muito bom. A forma prática de ensino proposta pelo autor é estimulante. Um bom início para quem deseja aprender eletronica.
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Stephane Grenier
5.0 out of 5 stars Best book by far for starting to learn electronics!
Reviewed in Canada on 4 September 2014
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Best book I've ever read on electronics. A lot of books focus almost exclusively on theory with very little practical knowledge. What I really liked about the book is that it started with practical knowledge and without you realizing you're learning the theory.

The book is extremely well written and the instructions and examples are really easy to follow. Each chapter also includes the list of items you will need to complete each chapter.

I cannot say enough about this book. If you want to learn about electronics on your own, to me this is the starting book bar none. It's not a university textbook full of theory and diagrams, but rather a down and dirty into building actual circuits that do something. And everything is explained along the way. Great book!
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Lata Agarwal
4.0 out of 5 stars it is good for beginers as it contains just experiments and teaches ...
Reviewed in India on 24 July 2015
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it is good for beginers as it contains just experiments and teaches us with those experiments.its name suits it certainly.l really love it.its good but canbe best if contains some more information than experiments.l mean to say same amount of experiment and some more information so just 4 stars
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Lorenzo Goldoni
5.0 out of 5 stars un buonissimo manuale di elettronica di base
Reviewed in Italy on 14 March 2015
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Per un perfetto neofita questo manuale farà miracoli.
La scuola anglosassone ti catapulta attraverso la pratica in mezzo alla materia.
Provare, distruggere, riparare per capire i concetti base.
Il libro è strutturato in base a esercitazioni di difficoltà crescente, che passo a passo guidano il lettore alla comprensione delle leggi base dell'elettricità, ai componenti più comuni dell'elettronica e al loro uso.
Consiglio vivamente di reperire in anticipo una lista dei componenti che servono nel libro per poter da subito cominciare con gli esperimenti.
Altrimenti prima di cominciare a leggerlo comprate i componenti in modo da non rovinarvi il piacere di seguire le esercitazioni quando ne avete voglia.
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alberte xosé méndez lópez
5.0 out of 5 stars Perfecto para iniciarse en la electrónica
Reviewed in Spain on 3 October 2013
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El planteamiento y el contenido, muy buenos para iniciarse en la electrónica y llegar hasta un nivel decente. Soy profesor de tecnología en la ESO y he cogido muchas buenas ideas de este libro para mis clases.
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