Textbook Review: Radio Astronomy

 

This is a textbook for an advanced physics or engineering class. I picked it up to help me with a project for my radar engineering class that I did on Radio Astronomy. It assumes that you have been through the calculus sequence and taken some physics. I did not really work on any of the problems in the book, so I cannot really say how well the theory in the explanatory text guides you in doing those. But, assuming you have taken enough classes to understand the material, the book does explain the theory quite well, and understandably. It is not something that an astronomy hobbyist who has not taken calculus and physics is likely to get a ton of use out of, however.

Study Aid Review: A Student's Guide to Maxwell's Equations (Student's Guides) 1st Edition

 

Maxwell's equations are some of the most important things that you will learn if you are taking physics and/or working on an electrical engineering degree. They basically describe the concepts of electricity and magnetism, which apply to things like the power to our homes and semiconductor chips that are in every single device we own. Unfortunately, a lot of the textbooks (both physics and EM engineering textbooks) give them a bit of short shrift, giving a basic explanation and maybe deriving one or two of them, but do not give a good explanation of why they are useful and, thus, what they represent can be lost on students.

This is a small book (about 130 pages) that covers all four equations, one per chapter. That breaks down what each equation represents and what the variables in the equation mean and provides both the integral form of the equations and the differential form. I think the best way to use this guide is to supplement your textbook material so that when you get to the point in the textbook where one of the equations is discussed, use this to flesh out the theory behind the equations that your textbook may not cover (or cover in as much detail). To be clear, this is not something like "Maxwell's Equations for Dummies" or something like that, which assumes you have little to no background going in. You do need to have some understanding of calculus (if you have taken multivariable calculus, that will definitely help because there is a lot of discussion of surface integrals and vectors), and know some of the physics concepts you will learn before getting to the electricity and magnetism topics (which is covered in the second semester of physics). So, if you are taking calculus-based physics and/or have to take an electricity and magnetism class (electric and magnetic fields) as a part of an engineering program, this will be very useful. It is probably overkill for those who just have to take algebra-based physics because it will go way beyond what you will be exposed to in class or expected to learn.

Software Review: MATLAB & Simulink Student Suite

 

I purchased this when I was working on an electrical engineering degree. My school made MATLAB available through a Citrix web portal, but that was glitchy and slow, so I decided to get this to have it on my home computer. It was a bit of a pain to install because it does not have CD, it just gives you a code. As of 2015 when I purchased this, instead of having a dedicated website to download the student version you had to poke around on the website, which was not super intuitive. Once the download started it was fairly straightforward. You do have to enter an academic email address, so you cannot use a yahoo or Gmail address, but I had no issues getting it to work once I found the download link on the website.

Textbook Review: Radar Systems Analysis and Design Using MATLAB 3rd Edition

 

This book was originally assigned as the textbook for a radar engineering class that I took as an elective in my Electrical Engineering program. The teacher then decided to use a different book but I kept this one for the semester to help flesh out the theory when I did not understand a concept from the other book. So, for that purpose, I found it useful. Unfortunately, I never did get a chance to try any of the MATLAB exercises or do any of the problems from the book, so I cannot say how good those are, but I did find that it explained the theory clearly and in enough detail to get a good handle on it.

Book Review: Fundamentals of Ethics for Scientists and Engineers 1st Edition

 

This was a book that was required for my Engineering Ethics class. It has some good material, but honestly, I think it focuses too much on made-up scenarios that are kind of scripted and sometimes silly and focuses too little on real-world situations. For example, in one of the early chapters, there is a discussion of the space shuttle Challenger disaster and the lead-up in which the engineers at the company that made the rocket boosters were warning NASA not to launch. There was about a page to a page and a half on the most basic details, but it left out a lot of important information. Thankfully, my professor expanded on it a lot and devoted a good portion of a class period to the topic, but that is really only one instance in which the book could have provided much more than it did.

Realistically, this is probably a book that someone is only going to read because they have to do so for a class. If you can get a used version, I would do that because it is definitely not worth more than about $20, but the price to purchase it new gets jacked up because it is technically a textbook.

Product Review: uxcell 100 Pcs 10K Ohm 3% Temperature Measurement NTC Thermistors

 

I needed a couple of Thermistors for one of my electrical engineering labs. Although I would have liked a package with far fewer than 100, they worked for what I needed them to do, and the price for a pack of 100 is good.

Study Aid Review: Schaum's Outline of Electromagnetics, 4th Edition

 

As pretty much anyone who has a science or engineering degree knows, Schaum's can outlines range from very helpful to barely useful. This is definitely one of the helpful ones. It is going to be the most useful to people getting an electrical engineering degree who have to take a class on electromagnetics (also sometimes called electromagnetic fields) and/or transmission lines (sometimes called distributed networks). The main textbooks used for those classes can be very hard to understand and this definitely helps with that. It distills the theory into easily digestible and understandable parts and gives you a lot of examples. I used this in conjunction with another study guide that just had example problems and it definitely helped me get through distributed networks, especially since my teacher for that class did not explain things well at all.

Textbook Review: Elements of Electromagnetics 6th Edition

 

This was my required textbook for Electric and Magnetic fields and Distributed Networks in my electrical engineering undergrad program. This is okay (but not great) at explaining the theory but it is light on useful examples. So, if you have to use this book, I would get one of the supplement guides that are out there to pair with it to flesh out the theory a bit more in spots where the book is weaker in explaining things and to have example problems that can help you get through your homework. My teacher in EM fields was pretty good at explaining the material and used her own homework and quiz problems so I did not have to use the book very much. I am still, to this day, not exactly sure what my teacher in Distributed Networks was doing, but he did use problems from the book for homework and exams, so I used the book more in that class along with supplements, to figure out the material.

Study Aid Review: 2008+ Solved Problems in Electromagnetics

 

I used this to help with homework problems for my electric and magnetic fields and distributed networks (transmission lines) classes when I was working on my electrical engineering undergrad degree. This is really just a problems repository. It is not a guide that you are going to use to understand the theory. That you would need to get from your teacher, your textbook, or a different guide that distills the information in the textbook down to just the essentials. This just has worked out problems in it and will cover all the essential material/topics from an EM and/or transmission lines class. The way I would use it is if I got stuck on a homework problem, I would look in the section of the guide on the topic and find the closest problem to what I was trying to solve that I could. Most of the time I could find something really close that would allow me to solve whatever I was stuck on. That is, in my opinion, the best way to use this. If however, you are expecting to learn the material from scratch just with this guide, you will probably be disappointed.

Study Aid Review: Hands-On Introduction to LabVIEW for Scientists and Engineers

 

LabView is a programming "language" that uses icons as opposed to writing out computer code. While you would think that would be easier than typing out lines of code, it can get very tricky and involved, especially when you are trying to do something fairly advanced. When I was working on my Electrical Engineering degree, I had a couple of classes that used LabView; one was an "introduction to LabView" class, and the other was computer-aided measures and controls, which covered LabView, C++, and MatLab. The same professor taught both courses, and he was notorious for showing very simple examples during class and then assigning homework and having test problems that were much harder than anything he showed us how to do. So, I used this to get through the LabView material and come up with ideas for projects, etc.

It is not a traditional textbook (although it can be used as one), so it has a lot of examples and enough explanation to understand what is going on. It is mainly for beginners to intermediate users, which is perfect for most people who are taking a college course. And, if you get an older version of the book it is much less expensive than some of the other books out there. So, if you are looking for help in using LabView, this is a good resource.

Study Aid Review: Engineering Mechanics Statics Tutor - Volume 1

 

Statics is a course that is technically a part of the Mechanical Engineering curriculum, but it is one of the classes that every engineering major, regardless of what program they are in, has to take. It is generally taken after Physics I and II, and basically takes the static equilibrium problems (the problems about forces acting on things that are not moving), makes them harder, and gives you a full semester of them. Needless to say, it was not my favorite course (especially as an electrical engineering major).

This covers what amounts to the material that is covered in the first 2-3 weeks of statics. The first few lessons are review (a review of Newton's Laws, units, and a review of trigonometry, which is used extensively in Statics), then gets into the material that you will hit the ground with on day 1 of class. The material covered in this set includes adding vectors and resolving forces in two and three dimensions and finding resultant forces, etc., Basically, the material that is the foundation of the class and used in every topic going forward. As I said above, this set does not cover anything close to all of the material that you will see in the full semester. It will basically get you through your first couple of homework assignments and quizzes, but that is about it. But, it is also the material that, if you are struggling with it, you will have no shot at doing well for the rest of the class. So, while it would be nice to have a volume 2 and probably 3 available, this will still help you. I would actually pick this up before you start taking Statics, learn this material backward and forward, and it will set you up well for the rest of the class.

Book Review: Make: Electronics

 

This is a great book both for those who just want to get into making electronics and for the beginning electrical engineering student who wants to put the theory from class into practice. This book introduces the basics of the theory like Ohms law and then shows you how to assemble actual circuits and basic devices to see how things work in the real world. The author tells you what components and supplies you will need and walks through assembling different types of circuits. You can assemble them on a breadboard or actually solder components onto a circuit board.

One thing you will find if you are an electrical engineering student, you learn all this material in class and learn how to draw circuit diagrams, but when you get to the point of doing labs you have no idea how to actually hook up components. If you are taking classes on campus and have a TA right there to help you, it is not a big deal. But, if you are in a distance/online program, you are kind of on your own and it is not something that is completely intuitive. This will help you figure that out. It has a lot of good illustrations and corresponding explanations. So, whether you are a beginner electronics enthusiast or taking actual classes, this will definitely be helpful.

Study Aid Review: Schaum’s Outline of Feedback and Control Systems, 3rd Edition

 

As most engineering students know, Schaum's study guides can vary in both quality and function. Some are basically just a problems repository giving only minimal theory and then have a bunch of problems, while others do try to teach you the material and like textbooks will give the background/theory (but less than the regular textbooks go through) and then have problem sets. This guide is more like the latter

This guide is for a control systems class which is a class that pretty much every engineering major has a version of. The chapters are divided up into sections, and each section is enough theory to learn the material and it is presented in a more straightforward and concise manner than the textbook I used. One thing I like is that there is an entire chapter focused on designing control systems, which my professor loved and tested on quite heavily. So, I was able to get a lot of practice with design problems which helped immensely. So, if you are looking for a supplement for a control systems class, this is a good one to use.

Product Review: Texas Instruments Nspire CX CAS Graphing Calculator

 

basically give you exact answers to almost any kind of mathematical function. Of course, it does not show the work, so if you are taking a class, you still have to learn how to do the problems, but it is helpful for checking your work. The display is much, much better than the display on the TI-89. It does utilize the same kind of "stack" but it is much brighter and easier to see. And some things, like derivatives, integrals, and matrices are much easier to set up on the Nspire than they are on the TI-89. Another good feature is that you can have multiple windows open and go back and forth between them. Probably not something you would need for an exam (assuming your teacher allows you to use it), but it can be helpful when doing homework. Many teachers will not let you because this can also store PDF files (if you use the computer software that comes with it) so you could take a cheat sheet into an exam that is closed book, closed notes.

There are a few issues that I discovered along the way. The menus can be a pain in the butt to navigate unless you are using one of the common math functions. For example, the statistics material is hard to find and access. Second, you pretty much have to go to YouTube to figure out how to do things on it because it does not come with a manual that helps at all. And, doing some things like changing from Radian to Degree mode that is relatively easy on TI's other calculators like the 84 plus, and the 89, is tricky on the Nspire. Also, there is a very deceptive mode that is on one of the settings screens that says something like "press to test". At first glance, it looks like it would run some kind of diagnostic on the calculator, but what it really does is put the calculator into test mode which turns off most of the CAS functions, and getting the calculator out of test mode is very complicated, so much so that it is not worth ever activating. Basically, you need access to a second calculator that is not in test mode to connect to and go through a bunch of steps with the calculators connected to each other. So, if your teacher allows you to use the calculator on exams, but only if it is in the test mode, you are far better off using a non-CAS calculator. Also, on some of the derivative and integral solutions, it gives answers that are simplified differently than "normal" so it can be hard to check your answers. That said, one thing it can really do well is triple integrals in which you are integrating over dr, but also have r as a limit of integration. This is something that is done quite a bit in an Electric and Magnetic fields class (if you are an electrical engineering major). The TI-89 will throw an error, but the Nspire can actually calculate it.

Overall, I would say that if you are just taking lower-level math classes, then this is overkill. If however, you are going into an engineering program this will make your life much easier once you learn how to use the functions you need quickly. I cannot really say how it stacks up against any of the other CAS calculators (aside from the TI-89) out there. I know that some people love TI and some people hate TI, to the extent of breaking out in hilariously dumb arguments. But, I can tell you that you will probably not ever use every single operation the calculator is capable of, but if you are in an engineering program, it will help.

Textbook Review: Signal Processing First 1st Edition

 

This is a book that is used as a part of some electrical engineering curriculums for classes such as signals and systems or signal processing. Generally, I would say that it gives decent explanations of the introductory material, but it is very light on helpful examples and thus the problem sets can be very hard (if your professor assigns them versus making up his or her own problems). It does a bit of the review of the math you should already have been exposed to many times over in the first couple of chapters and then gets into the new material. Several of the exercises in the book are keyed to MATLAB, which some professors use more extensively than others. In terms of doing actual problems, the MATLAB material in the book is probably the most helpful. But, the book does follow the pattern that far too many math, science, and engineering textbooks do, in that they explain and give examples for the very basic material and then have problem sets with material that is much harder and sometimes impossible to figure out based on what you have read. Personally, I think that is fine if you are in a Master's level class as those should prepare you for real-world engineering problems that you have to figure out and will not have the ability to look up. However, at the undergraduate level when you are learning the introductory concepts, the problem sets should be representative of the explanatory material so that if you have read the chapter text, you should be able to figure out the vast majority of the problems. So, overall, I do not think it is the worst textbook out there, but it could be a lot better.

Study Aid Review: The Laplace Transform Tutor

 

Laplace Transforms are mainly used as a technique for solving some types of differential equations. If you are a math major and have to take differential equations as a semester-long class you will definitely see it there, and if you are an engineering major that has to take the intro to differential equations class (either as a separate class from intro to linear algebra or in a class that combines the two) you will usually have a couple of lectures on Laplace transforms. If you get good instruction on how to do problems involving Laplace Transforms they are not all that hard. If however, your instructor just glosses over them, they can be very tricky.

In this set, Jason introduces the concept of Laplace Transforms, how to derive the basic transforms, then provides a table of transforms (which is generally what you will be allowed to use in class if you need the more advanced transforms). Then he solves a bunch of problems using the Laplace Transforms, including solving several differential equations. As he does in his other math and science sets, Jason goes through everything step-by-step. He does assume that you have the math skills needed to be at this point (so having taken algebra, pre-calc, and calculus I and II). He does not do a recap of the math, but since he rarely skips steps in solving problems (and never does in the first couple of examples he shows on a topic) you do get a bit of a refresher anyway.

Laplace Transforms is a topic that will come up at least a few times depending on what branch of science or engineering you go into. I was an electrical engineering major and I definitely had to use it extensively in one of my higher-level classes and a bit lighter in a couple of other classes. Unfortunately, I did not have a good grasp on the topic after my Calc 4 class (which is where I was introduced to the topic), so I got this to really figure it out. So, if you are a visual learner who learns best by watching sample problems being worked out, this is a great study aid.

Study Aid Review: AC Circuit Analysis Tutor -- Volume 1

 

This set in Jason's engineering circuits video will cover the material that either comes toward the end of the first semester or early in the second semester of circuits analysis. It starts out with a discussion of alternating current, and sinusoidal sources and a review of the math (complex numbers and phasors) needed to solve the circuits. Then the lessons get into the concepts of the impedance of inductors and capacitors, and Kirchhoff's Laws in the Phasor Domain. Then it ends with several examples of solving circuits that have resistors, inductors, and capacitors. It is basically the material that forms the basis for solving the more complex RCL circuits.

As with Jason's other math, science, and engineering DVD sets, Jason explains all the concepts in an understandable way and works through many examples, providing clear, step-by-step instructions for how to solve the problems. He does not cover every single concept you will see in class, but he covers the main concepts that you need to know. So, this is a compliment to class lectures and doing homework, not a replacement for either. Jason explains the material a lot better than many textbooks do, and better than some teachers. So, if you are looking for a good circuits study aid, and you are a visual learner, this is a great option for you.

Circuits 1 Chapter 5 (The Operational Amplifier Terminal Currents and Voltages, Inverting, Summing, Non-Inverting, and Difference Amplifiers) Notes and Examples

Here are the links to the notes and problems for the Chapter 5 material which covers the Operational Amplifier, Terminal Currents and Voltages,  Inverting, Summing, Non-Inverting, and Difference Amplifiers.

Link to Book Notes

Link to Lecture Notes

Link to Problems

Textbook Review: Statics (Engineering Mechanics) 13th ed. Edition

 

Statics and its horrible sibling Dynamics were my two least favorite engineering subjects. They basically take the worst problems in physics, make them harder, and then uses them in a full semester-long course. This book just covers the Statics material. There is a different edition that covers both Statics and Dynamics, and an edition that just covers Dynamics.

How helpful the book will be to you I think depends on i) how good a teacher you have, and ii) the kind of homework problems he or she assigns. Overall, I found that the theory was explained fairly well and the examples gave you a good idea of how to approach solving many of the problems in the problem sets. But, as pretty much every math, science, and engineering textbook do, this one does have problems in the problem set that are much harder than the examples in the chapter text. So, if your professor assigns the harder problems and/or is not easy to follow, you will probably need to get a study guide to supplement the textbook. But, if you have a pretty decent teacher who assigns problems from the chapter that are similar in difficulty to the examples in the chapter text or that are shown during lecture, then the book will give you a pretty good understanding of the material and you can probably understand it without any additional supplements or study guides.

Circuits 1 Chapter 4 (Techniques of Circuit Analysis Matrix Math, Node Voltage, Mesh Current, Source Transformation, Thevenin and Norton Equivalent, and Superposition) Notes and Examples

 Here are the links to the Chapter 4 materials:

Link to lecture notes

Link to book notes part 1

Link to book notes part 2

Link to book notes part 3

Link to homework problems