Reviews
Testimonials on the 3rd Edition
“First of all, after I forklifted [Chapter 5] onto my reading table, I sat down and read it. It is simply spectacular. That may be overly exclamatory language, but it is the only appropriate verbiage I can summon. Spectacular, deep and wide. I especially like the comments about interpreting specifications, and the deconstruction of the Agilent voltmeters is just, well, wonderful.” — Jim Williams, late Analog guru, Linear Technology Corporation
“Wow. Chapter 5 details every circuit artifact that I’ve encountered in the past 30 years in a thorough, pragmatic, and straightforward way. My only ‘twinge’ is that it discloses and explains (in glorious graphical detail and with real part numbers) many topics that I thought were my personal trade secrets. I love the plots. I know that it must take an enormous effort to collate all of the device characteristics. It’s worth the effort. The way the data is presented allows the reader to get terrific perspective on a lot of landscape in a single view. Nice work.” — John Willison, founder, Stanford Research Systems
“Who among us has not kept a cherished copy of AoE on our workbench throughout our careers? Engineers, hackers, and makers of all stripes: rejoice, for the third edition of AoE has been worth the wait! Packed with tons of delicious knowledge to navigate electronics in both work and hobby. An encyclopedia of electronics knowledge, AoE is a pleasure to read through for tips and tricks AND is a unbeatable resource! Take a day out to read a chapter — you will learn things you didn’t even know you didn’t know. Or, refer to the pinouts, diagrams, and techniques as necessary to guide you through a difficult project. If you think electrical engineering is magical then you must pick up this tome!” — Limor “Ladyada” Fried, Adafruit Industries
“Horowitz and Hill’s third edition beautifully upgrades their earlier work, with substantial updates to detail, and without compromise to style, content, or technical quality. Like the second edition I’ve used for years, it’s laser-focused on the working engineer. Delivered in folksy Horowitz and Hill style, it is rich with the kind of nitty-gritty information that’s invaluable to circuit designers and manufacturers, much of which is absent (or difficult to find) elsewhere. This new book is a superb update, one that I’m sure will be treasured by those close to the art of analog circuitry. I tip my hat to H&H!” — Walt Jung, Former IC apps engineer, and author of IC Op Amp Cookbook
Magazine reviews of the 3rd Edition
“Gold Standard”: If you are a hobbyist or maker who wants to acquire or improve a well-rounded knowledge of electronics, then AoE is an ideal book for you. It starts from the very basics of voltage, current, and resistance without getting heavily dependent on physics theory or mathematics, and proceeds to cover a huge variety of interesting topics…. AoE brilliantly conveys its authors’ enthusiasm and experience of practical engineering and is an inspiring read. Many people have described the earlier editions as the best book on electronics, so AoE3 had a lot to live up to; fortunately, it does not disappoint. It deserves its gold cover. — review by Ian Bell in Everyday Practical Electronics (UK), Feb 2016
Unsolicited Fan Mail on the 3rd Edition
“My first copy of the book arrived at my home the other day. On opening the box, my initial impression was WOW! The book is an absolute masterpiece! You and Paul have done a fantastic job! The book is beautifully laid out, and the diagrams are really, really superb – beautiful, in fact. All those days and nights you spent perfecting them have really paid off. And CUP have done a brilliant job with the presentation – The gold cover is beautiful and I’m glad to see they’ve dispensed with the dust jacket used in the previous editions. The paper quality is really nice and the font size is just right, even for my aging eyes.” — Ali Mehmed, Sr. Design Engineer, Imagination Technologies Ltd.
“I bought AoE2 back in 1989, when I was a teenager with an interest in electronics. I vividly recall reading it for the first time in a cafe in Cambridge city centre, moments later. I was hooked and mesmerized, and read it late into the night, every night for months. Much to my parents’ relief, electronics then displaced my dangerous hobby of chemistry.
That well-worn volume has accompanied me through school, university, and 8 years running a hardware design group at CSR designing Bluetooth devices. AoE3 is even better than AoE2, and lots of late-night reading has started again. It’s outstanding in its depth.
100+ PCBs later, I now run my own electronics design consultancy in Cambridge, spending nearly every day designing circuits. I doubt I could have done this without your help.
A heart-felt “thank you!” for these brilliant books.” — Alistair May, Linaud Ltd.
“Thank you for all the time and effort you invested in creating the best electronics book in the galaxy :)” — Cassiano Rabelo.
“Fantastic book! It’s my buddy, and will be for a long, long time. Thanks for all your hard work!” — Aaron Kondziela.
“It’s a masterpiece even after all these years and a very enjoyable read. I actually take it to bed with me while my wife reads fiction next to me. She wonders why I like it so much. I have a hard time explaining it.” — Gerald Lilienthal (on 2nd edition, while awaiting replacement for the counterfeit 3rd edition he received from a marketplace seller).
Choice Reviews Posted on Booksites
“The most important and inspiring book on electronics there is. To me, there is no one more important book in my life than H&H. I certainly do not know of a better electronics text (and I like electronics texts). Further, I believe my career in engineering boils down to a few distinct pushes in that direction before it was in my blood (and therefore too late). One of the big ones was getting a copy of AoE 2nd Edition in school. So, I would have bought the 3rd edtion no matter what.
Incredibly, the 3rd edition has expanded many of the things I loved about the 2nd edition. The section on low noise design is much better and much more useful and it was pretty great before. The digital stuff is obviously much more relevant (although it may not stay that way). The ‘circuits from the masters’ sections and the case studies of specific circuit designs are fascinating and useful (although I do miss the hilarious ‘bad circuits’ sections).
Finally, and most importantly, you can tell that H&H themselves were active engineers in the world between the last edition and this one — building circuits and solving problems and reading other works and being influenced by the work and scholarship and generally just continuing to rule. The dedication to Jim Williams showed that like me and all other analog nerds I know out there, they had been eagerly reading all his stuff. The section on microcontrollers exactly parallels some of the design ideas, biases, and gut feelings that I and other embedded engineers have taken the past fifteen years developing by plowing through all the exciting architecture and tool changes that have happened from EEPROM PICs to ARMs.
The intellectual integrity, raw practicality, and HANDS-ON-ness of this book are unparalleled. If everybody were required to read this book before designing circuits, there would be a lot fewer crappy circuits out there.” — Todd M. Bailey
“My copy arrived today. A fabulous update to what I consider the best circuit design book ever. I just wish we did not have to wait 26 years for it. Same excellent writing and clarity. Lots of new material. Highly recommended if you are serious about doing circuit design.” — J. White
“This is simply the best electronics book I’ve ever come across. I own the second edition as well and this is worth the upgrade. There is so much additional information packed into this book. If you have any interest in electronics, don’t even think about it, just buy it, you won’t be disappointed.” — Tim Hoeppner
“Best ever, now even better. Third edition exceeded all my expectations. There is no other book on practical electronics like this one.” — Dominik
“This is THE must have book if you have any interest in electronic circuit design or need a better understanding of electronics and you don’t want to go through a year of calculus first. Whether you’re a student, a tech, a maker, an EE major or graduate, a scientist, a part time hobbyist or something else and want to gain an understanding or especially master electronics, then get this book. … The book is a 1000 page hardcover thing that starts at the component level of introduction and quickly develops into a very accessible compendium of useful how-to practical understanding and teaching that it will take what ever it is you are doing and just make you sharper. You know? It’s one of those tools that will give you an edge. I find this book is too good to put on the shelf. I like to keep it nearby. For fun, you may want to look up the YouTube interview that the author Paul Horowitz did with Adafruit. The interview will give the history and philosophy and reason for the book in addition to content insight. Fascinating stuff.” — GeoMan
“There aren’t enough stars for this epic volume. I bought the first edition in 1982 when I was studying Physics in college, and it lit a passion in me for Electronics that hasn’t faded yet — I pretty much owe Horowitz and Hill my 31-year EE career. I wish they’d kept the “good” and “bad” circuit examples, some of which were hilarious, but with all the comprehensive new material something had to be sacrificed.
If you think you’re even remotely interested in Electronics, you need to get this book.” — Jack Abramoff
“Awesome reference. An updated classic. Wonderfully written, 150% useful. Great reference item that should be required on every engineer’s desk. Highly recommended.” — Joseph Bianco
“Best book ever.” — Mads Beck
“From electronics hobbyist, through to University Lecturer and then on to R&D director of an electronics company, The Art of Electronics has always been there. Quite simply the best book on “real world” electronics you can buy. I always ask prospective engineers if they own a copy. If not, bye-bye. Not cheap, but the best investment you can make if you want a career in electronics of any sort…My old 30 year copy has finally had an update! ” — Stuart Lea
“Absolutely the BEST damn book for learning electronics. I have no background in electronics and am making good heading through the pages. I really am impressed by how little you have to know in advance and how much you can learn by the end of a single chapter let alone the entire book. BUY IT. STOP HESITATING.” — Sebastian C.
“This book deserves a 5 star rating. The true value of the book is that it is not an academic text book. It contains a wealth of practical information, in charts, tables, and graphs, no other books come close. The jewel of the crown is the chapter on precision circuits.” — Dave Z.
“This is my bible. There is really no need for any other book on electronics. Most of them throw a lot of formulas at you and confound you with differential equations. Forget that, this book mentions them in passing, and even has a tutorial on calculus, but does not rely on math to explain electronics, which really, is much simpler than most professors let on. There are lots of great example circuits in here and examples of what NOT to do, reinforcing the cautions and caveats in the text. Great book, buy it, use it, keep it.” — Dan P. Bullard.
“Even better than before! The revised version of this masterpiece is better than ever! Updated with new circuits, it provides a comprehensive introduction to the world of electronics for the novice reader, but also gives insight into circuit details that even experienced designers may not know.” — Constantine.
“Amazing Book. There is nothing more to be said other than it was worth the multi decade wait from 2nd edition. This is not quite a replacement for 2nd edition (some things from there were removed) but it is the best text of plain English explanation of electrical engineering.” — Joe Sacher.
“Electronics Design Bible. Excellent design oriented electronics reference manual and book. Can be used as a reference or a cover to cover read. Authors are veteran engineers who show real life instances of their knowledge. No bench should be without one.” — Edward J. McLaughlin.
“Great book…..Really Great Book!!! If you’re looking for an Electronics book for study, reference or whatever, just buy this book. I have a small library of electronics books and the’re all in this book. So much money wasted on the rest of the library I’ve purchased. Plus this book is written so a nerd-halfling can understand. You don’t have to be a full blooded nerd to understand and enjoy this book. The book is set up to teach you about Electronics and not to try to impress the reader with the writers knowledge & accomplishments….it’s not a Bragger-Book! It’s just a great book of knowledge…..worth every penny of the price. Even if you can’t afford a couple packs of Ramen noodles after the purchase, you can read and feed your mind with this really great book while your growling stomach keeps you awake at nights.” — C.J.
“Worth the wait! Things you will recognize from the first 2 editions: The enthusiasm for electronics comes through in the writing, the clean descriptions and supreme attention to detail in the quality of the schematics, images, and tables.
As a practicing electrical engineer, I’ve had the full complement of the usual textbooks which are way more theory and less practical experience. However even today, this book (and it’s predecessor) are the ones I reach for to answer a quick question. It’s a fantastic tutorial and reference.” — N. Hendin.
“Encyclopaedia Electronica – but it will popularize tiny desktop forklifts. All the glowing praise from luminaries much more entitled to an opinion than I am certainly seems to be justified. The sheer volume of information curated for ready use is staggering. The term “encyclopaedic” is readily justified.” — M. Odell.
“… this book is something every person interested in electronics should have — professional or hobbyist. I myself am a second-year E&E student at university. When I go to bed I read 2 hours, and when I wake up next to the book another 2 hours of reading ensues. Then during the day I think about the gems of knowledge this book shares. This book is so amazing, it should actually be a well-kept secret — like a treasure on an island.” — Duan Coetsee.
“Simply the BEST MUST-HAVE in Electronics! This is the last of a series of three editions representing a lifetime of work and effort by the authors. I have all three editions and the student manual. They all complement one another. This edition is the finest, most complete, and up to date. What a legacy the authors have produced. Use it to learn basic electronics without deep mathematics, and continue into advanced topics in a practical approach anyone can absorb. Thank you, thank you, to the authors of The Art of Electronics!” — bible a reader.
“Finest Electronics book ever … all 3 editions … best value for money too, despite price!” — Jon Wright.
“The authors’ to-the-point yet warm narrative brings together just the right level of model, just the right rules of thumb, and representative industry data, to allow the designer new to the topic to gain insight into how a more-experienced designer would proceed. Worth its weight in gold.” — G. Wideman.
“I rarely write reviews of anything, but this is the exception. This is simply the best book on the subject of electronics. If it were up to me, all colleges would use this book as an introduction to Electrical Engineering. While some people can learn about electronics from mathematical models and explanations, the Art of Electronics focuses on an intuitive understanding, which (for me) is a much easier way to learn.” — Mike.
Reviews of the 1st and 2nd Edition
“I’ve hunted high and low for good electronics textbooks. This one is the best, bar none. No extraneous math, lots of insider’s information … and a huge range of topics covered clearly and thoroughly. So well written that I’ve had difficulty putting it down!” — CoEvolution Quarterly
“Far and away the finest book on the subject of electronics … in the last decade. I cannot recommend this book highly enough to anyone whose research or experiments require some electronics.” — Optical Engineering
“I believe I have found the best self-teaching and reference book in electronics, after an arduous 10-year search!… The beauty and fun of electronics shows through.” — Radio Communication
“This book is filled with a tremendous diversity of valuable information. More importantly, this book is a joy to read…. It’s not at all like studying – it’s too much fun.” — EDN (News Edition).
“This is a delightful book … an excellent teaching text as well as a lab reference. The circuits actually work, the schematics are readable, and there is even a section on how to draw good schematics. I recently observed a graduate student in physics unfamiliar with op-amps start to build a haywired mess of a circuit. He then took home The Art of Electronics for one night, and the next day the mess was taken apart, to be replaced by a correctly designed working circuit.” — Review of Scientific Instruments
“Full of clever circuits and sharp insights, but with a surprising minimum of mathematics…. This scheme of making maximum use of the insights of simple approximations described in words, and introducing more formal design only after understanding has gained real headway, is the pedagogical core of this original treatment…. The depth is genuine, as is the richness of examples, data and apt tricks.” — Scientific American
“The ‘bottom line’ question is, ‘If I were to have only one set of electronic books, are these [text and student manual] the ones I should buy?’. The answer must be a resounding ‘Yes!'” —The Observatory
“This second edition of The Art of Electronics has clearly been worth the wait. The comprehensive and detailed treatment, and the up-to-date table of data, assure that this edition will rapidly replace the first as the standard electronics text and reference in the physics lab.” — American Journal of Physics
“Horowitz and Hill has long been established among students and teachers (and many practising engineers) as the standard reference book… For many it is the first port of call whenever faced with a seemingly intractable problem. The standard riposte when a tricky electronics puzzle is posed is, ‘Have you looked in Horowitz and Hill?’. This second volume carries on une grande tradition… It is, without doubt, the book for the practical engineer. No cerebral theorizing here, no long sections of abstruse mathematical derivations; just page after page of solid empirical engineering. It is also light hearted and anecdotal, with some wonderful pages of bad circuit ‘howlers’ that the authors have encountered.” — IJEEE
“For more than a month after I purchased The Art of Electronics it rarely left my side. I felt like I had found a rare gem. …One of my favorite chapters is Electronic Construction Techniques. The authors’ vast experience building prototype instrumentation is evident. They are graduates of the school of hard-knocks when it comes to building one-of-a-kinds, and designing gear to be produced in small volumes. The chapter covers various prototype wiring techniques, PC board design, instrument construction, even where to get components. What I like most about the chapter is the nuts-n-bolts recommendations — when does wire-wrapping a prototype make sense, when (or when not) to use a socket for a component, should you use a backplane inside your instrument, what’s the best way to do front-panel switching, and much more. …In case you haven’t got the idea yet — I really like this book. So go check it out — I promise you won’t be sorry.” — The Robotics Practitioner