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Getting Started in Electronics
NEW 2020 SPIRAL BOUND EDITION This is a complete electronics course in 128 pages! Author Forrest Mims teaches you the basics, takes you on a tour of analog and digital components, explains how they work, and shows you how they are combines for various applications. Includes circuit assembly tips and 100 electronic circuits and projects you can build and test.
128 pages, Spiral-bound
First published January 1, 1983
87 people are currently reading
1318 people want to read
About the author
Forrest M. Mims III
94 books38 followersForrest M. Mims III is an amateur scientist, magazine columnist, and author of the popular Getting Started in Electronics and Engineer's Mini-Notebook series of instructional books that was originally sold in Radio Shack electronics stores. Mims graduated from Texas A&M University in 1966 with a major in government and minors in English and history. He became a commissioned officer in the United States Air Force.
Although he has no formal academic training in science,Mims has had a successful career as a science author, researcher, lecturer and syndicated columnist.
Although he has no formal academic training in science,Mims has had a successful career as a science author, researcher, lecturer and syndicated columnist.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
August 26, 2016
I think this book mislead me more than it taught me. I remember as a kid being frustrated by my inability to make circuits work, and I think this book's simplistic descriptions are partially to blame.
The book emphasizes electron current instead of conventional current, as if this is somehow more instructive or more correct. In fact, depending on the materials the component is made out of, current can be carried by electrons (metal), ions (batteries, electrolytic capacitors, neon lamps), holes (semiconductors), or even free protons (fuel cells). Conventional current abstracts away this distinction between charge carriers so you can focus on the big picture. Teaching everything backwards — as if only electron current matters — just confuses things, for no benefit.
The drawings show little electron cartoons jumping out of wires, getting "stuck" inside resistors, being blocked by the field of an FET, or stuck on one side of a thyristor with none being able to get to the other side, etc. This is not how circuits work. A resistor slows down all the current in the entire circuit, not just the electrons on one side of it. Electrons don't all move in unison with each other, they bounce around randomly, and only the net drift of billions of particles matters. It should be thought of as a fluid, not as individual particles. Maybe it would be more fair to say that the book was a little over my head as a kid. But the pictures are misleading, and those are what I focused on at the time.
There are problems with the descriptions, too. Although they make sense to someone already familiar with electronics, the book is aimed at people who aren't. "Ground", for instance, is described as "the point in a circuit at zero voltage, whether or not it's connected to ground". I struggled with these descriptions for years. Only when I got to college did I finally start to learn this stuff, rather than poke in the dark and hope that things worked. (You can pick any point in a circuit and call it ground. It's just a reference point for making voltage measurements, and there are common conventions for which point you should choose. It's as simple as that.)
I think William Beaty's Electricity Misconceptions pages are much better at explaining electricity in an intuitive, but accurate way.
The book emphasizes electron current instead of conventional current, as if this is somehow more instructive or more correct. In fact, depending on the materials the component is made out of, current can be carried by electrons (metal), ions (batteries, electrolytic capacitors, neon lamps), holes (semiconductors), or even free protons (fuel cells). Conventional current abstracts away this distinction between charge carriers so you can focus on the big picture. Teaching everything backwards — as if only electron current matters — just confuses things, for no benefit.
The drawings show little electron cartoons jumping out of wires, getting "stuck" inside resistors, being blocked by the field of an FET, or stuck on one side of a thyristor with none being able to get to the other side, etc. This is not how circuits work. A resistor slows down all the current in the entire circuit, not just the electrons on one side of it. Electrons don't all move in unison with each other, they bounce around randomly, and only the net drift of billions of particles matters. It should be thought of as a fluid, not as individual particles. Maybe it would be more fair to say that the book was a little over my head as a kid. But the pictures are misleading, and those are what I focused on at the time.
There are problems with the descriptions, too. Although they make sense to someone already familiar with electronics, the book is aimed at people who aren't. "Ground", for instance, is described as "the point in a circuit at zero voltage, whether or not it's connected to ground". I struggled with these descriptions for years. Only when I got to college did I finally start to learn this stuff, rather than poke in the dark and hope that things worked. (You can pick any point in a circuit and call it ground. It's just a reference point for making voltage measurements, and there are common conventions for which point you should choose. It's as simple as that.)
I think William Beaty's Electricity Misconceptions pages are much better at explaining electricity in an intuitive, but accurate way.
June 4, 2017
I thought this was a decent book. It gives a pretty good outline of electronic components and how to use them, but it really isn't a complete electronics course like it says on the cover. That is to be expected though, it is only about 130 pages long.
March 18, 2011
A good book for beginners. It covers most of the basic components and principles in a straight forward fashion, but also goes into enough depth that you get a good working knowledge of them. Even after reading the previous sections the section on IC's can be a bit difficult. I think with some work on the projects this would quickly clear up.
January 9, 2024
Useful book. It provided me with much information and gave me an outlook of many topics. However, there were some parts which were vague. But with a little research I managed to understand. I would recommend this book to anyone who has a small knowledge about electronics.
P.S: I haven't tried building any of the circuits contained in the book.
P.S: I haven't tried building any of the circuits contained in the book.
April 19, 2010
Forrest Mims is undoubtedly an influence in why my life took the direction towards science and electronics.
October 8, 2008
This is a pretty basic book when it comes Electronic circuits and the theory behind it. There are plenty of other books that go far more indepth. However, this book is cheap, short, and written in a way that someone (like myself) who doesn't have a strong background in Electronic Engineering can have a pretty solid foundation to work off of as they start building circuits.
Now, I have to warn everyone that this is not the most current book out there. The first print was in 1983. However, basic circuitry and the things Forrest Mims talks about haven't changed much since then and are still very much relevant to basic circuit design today. I would recommend this to anyone who is on a tight budget, doesn't want a 567 page textbook, and really doesn't have much to go on as far as knowledge on electronic theory.
Now, I have to warn everyone that this is not the most current book out there. The first print was in 1983. However, basic circuitry and the things Forrest Mims talks about haven't changed much since then and are still very much relevant to basic circuit design today. I would recommend this to anyone who is on a tight budget, doesn't want a 567 page textbook, and really doesn't have much to go on as far as knowledge on electronic theory.
August 29, 2014
Its good for a beginner...like me, but I don't like the lack of help on the actual Circuits section of the book. Even after reading all the referential material I still feel a little intimidated about building a circuit from scratch strictly from the circuit section, and a barely understood a lot of the material in the book anyway.
February 5, 2017
A very practical book for those interested in cracking the surface of electronics and to gain a basic knowledge into the field.
December 15, 2022
The best way to learn electronics is through projects
Yep, you can get all the electronic goodies from RadioShack; however, do not overlook Amazon.
Although most of the electronics are now part of IC chips it is nice to touch what you are reading about.
The book itself is written like a lined notebook and the pictures are crude schematics and pictures that you would have seen in a notebook. The wording is in uppercase print. I write that way so it is much easier to read than most fonts.
Might be missing 30+ years in technology. However, the logic is still the same.
Yep, you can get all the electronic goodies from RadioShack; however, do not overlook Amazon.
Although most of the electronics are now part of IC chips it is nice to touch what you are reading about.
The book itself is written like a lined notebook and the pictures are crude schematics and pictures that you would have seen in a notebook. The wording is in uppercase print. I write that way so it is much easier to read than most fonts.
Might be missing 30+ years in technology. However, the logic is still the same.
January 19, 2019
It had some great knowledge for someone who is just getting started with electronics but maybe it's because the nature of the subject that you require one to one interaction with a teacher or the circuit itself to fully understand the concept. The book is great. But the subject needs a teacher I think.
November 26, 2018
Classic
Read
August 3, 2019this is a great book for beginners
August 13, 2020
I had problems keeping up with the lectures at school. This book explained the basics in a very understandable way.
January 1, 2021
Very helpful for understanding some difficult to visualize concepts (the illustrations make things much clearer). Gives a much wider treatment than most beginner sources without overwhelming math.
December 4, 2024
A great overview and refresher of common components found in circuits.
November 20, 2011
"Getting Started in Electronics" is only 128 pages but covers an incredible amount. It goes over the major parts in electronics. I like the emphasis on how things work - yes a little physics. There are wiring diagrams, pictures of components and a great reference on the covers.
It's the kind of book you have to read many times to get everything out of it. First read was great though.
The only thing I don't like is that it is handwritten font on graph paper like in a real engineering notebook. I loved the O'Reilly series which was also on graph paper. The difference is that a typed font was used for the main text and only the notes in the margin looked handwritten. By contrast, having everything look handwritten made it hard to skim. I used a highlighter to solve that problem on subsequent reads.
And I used the highlighter a lot which means there was lots of information. I bought this book directly from http://www.forrestmims.com/. It came in less than 5 days which was quite impressive.
It's the kind of book you have to read many times to get everything out of it. First read was great though.
The only thing I don't like is that it is handwritten font on graph paper like in a real engineering notebook. I loved the O'Reilly series which was also on graph paper. The difference is that a typed font was used for the main text and only the notes in the margin looked handwritten. By contrast, having everything look handwritten made it hard to skim. I used a highlighter to solve that problem on subsequent reads.
And I used the highlighter a lot which means there was lots of information. I bought this book directly from http://www.forrestmims.com/. It came in less than 5 days which was quite impressive.
April 1, 2011
Most definitely the best place to start learning the fundamentals of electricity and tinkering. I first read it years ago as a teenager working at Radio Shack and I enjoyed going through it just as much this time over a decade later. The hand drawn notebook format of the book still gives me a smile.
Want to read
February 6, 2009The most amazing facet of this book is that it is - no kidding - handwritten with hand-drawn pictures. Unlike any other handwritten book I've ever seen, the pages are attractive and pleasant to look at.
Okay, I'm not endorsing any views of the author by reading this book.
Okay, I'm not endorsing any views of the author by reading this book.
August 1, 2021
After perhaps 15-20 years gap, just reread this classic.
Very person-to-person writing style still resonates.
I bought the latest spiral bound copy for my reread, which I enjoyed.
Recommended.
Very person-to-person writing style still resonates.
I bought the latest spiral bound copy for my reread, which I enjoyed.
Recommended.
June 24, 2012
I think this is a fairly good presentation for getting started. Some parts were ambiguous and I get the feeling (by reading other reviews, and other things I've learned in the past) that this book is by no means definitive. I consider it an appetizer that takes the edge off.
August 4, 2013
A very handy guide for those who know little or nothing about electronics but want to start on a project or two. May not be the only guide on your bookshelf but it should definitely be there. Simple explanations, simple circuits.
September 2, 2009
Made a previously baffling subject wonderfully accessible. Recommended to any beginner.
March 27, 2009
GREAT! Forrest Mims is the MAN! Very thorough and well illustrated introductory books to everything about electronics. breaks down the specifics of each part and its role in an electronic circuit
February 8, 2011
This is probably the best book to understand some basic concepts in electronics. It is written for persons without any previous experience in electronics therefore it is very easy to read.
March 27, 2012
The *best* book for getting starting as an electronics hobbyist. You'll be soldering away in no time. Mind Ohm's law! Since 1983.
July 12, 2016
Great intro to electronics. Not only gives example circuits but explains basic principles and even gives thoughts for future experiments and projects. Really fired my imagination as a kid.
November 19, 2014
great book
January 23, 2015
It sits on my bookshelf to remind of simple things in electronics that I've forgotten. Very very basic... I don't reach out for it as much.
June 10, 2015
a fairly short, quick, and easy to follow introduction to basic electronics.
Read
August 21, 2009Learned electronics from this. Yay Radio Shack! I bet it's still the same book inside, too.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews