I am really enjoying this book. In fact I have the Physics, Calculus, Algebra books also. I find them very well explained. I am using these book as "self study" and find them very good for that purpose, but I can also see how they would be helpful to anyone in High School that needs some extra help, or wants to go beyond the level they are being taught. The end of topic reviews and tests help you see how much knowledge you are gaining and what areas you need to focus on.

This is one of the most comprehensive basic astronomy courses I've ever seen. I especially like it because it includes information about the sky as seen from "down under." Half of the globe is, after all, south of the equator (even if most of the landmass is not). The imaginary journeys among the planets are fun. I wish the author had taken me on an intergalactic voyage, but maybe that is asking too much.

This is an excellent book and i think, stan gibilisco in a magnific author, i read "understanding theory of relativity" too.

I had to put my bits in to complement all the great reviews. Gibilisco indeed does a fantastic job introducing all of the basic concepts of electricity and electronics. The first two parts (550+ pages) are exemplary in their treatment of electronic components. I finally understood how to analyze an LRC circuit!!

The second two parts, however, are not nearly as helpful. Perhaps it's because the topics become too complex for the simple presentations use in the first half, but I found the sections on Basic and Advanced Electronics (the last 250+ pages) to be little more than a cursory overview of various components and uses. Good as a very basic introduction, but little practical value.

Overall, I enjoyed reading the book and learned a great deal from the first half. The second parts were interesting but less useful.

This book explains the theoretical concepts of electricity and electronics very well. The quizzes really make you think, but they're open-book. The tests and the final exam are, as the author promises, easier, but they're closed-book. I've never seen a book that has so many well-written practice questions. I would like to see more material on advanced systems concepts and aerospace applications, but maybe that is asking too much for an introductory text (and it reflects my own bias!). I have recommended this book to several of my colleagues.

This is the only book on electronics I've read that I didn't have to use another book as a reference for. The author starts off assuming the reader is new to electronics and doesn't forget that as he introduces new topics; most authors at some point start talking in techspeak without explanation or zoom ahead to get to their favorite topic; this one doesn't. He explains topics one at a time, without zooming from electrons to transdimensional quark theory. The book starts with electricity, what it is, what it does, how its behavior relates to electronics, and he introduces the various components, circuits, and ideas one at a time. It is not intended to be a circuit design or hobby book; but this is the one to read before progressing to those books, because they will not guide you through the concepts like this author does. By the end of it, you will confidently be able to go onto a more advanced book. My only quibble with the book is that he sometimes does not go into a subject in enough technical detail, but for that Basic Electronics course by Norman Crowhurst is a nice complement. You don't need it as a reference, but it goes more into technically advanced explanations on certain concepts/circuits. (But doesn't explain things as clearly for the beginner as Gibilisco does.) If you're looking for ONE book that covers it all perfectly, you won't find it. But this is the best beginning book I've found.

I have some knowledge of wireless technology, and I think this book covers the whole field. There is good information about security and privacy issues. This is a good book for the general public, because it's easy to read. Engineers might use it as a general reference, but probably not as a design guide.

This book explains how radio and wireless communications really work. Anyone interested in electronics and amateur radio will find this book both interesting and useful.

This book is an excellent source for review material for both the serious and amateur mathematician. The author stresses "understanding" the techniques over rote memorization.

This book enabled me to teach myself algebra,trig and calculus at home. It takes you at the start, from counting with an abacus all the way through to integral calculus and beyond.The best math book I've seen.

Best to look for another electronics dictionary that's a little more down to earth!

This is the best electronics dictionary I've ever run across. All of the definitions are clear and concise. There are many cross-references to other similar topics. Students and technicians will find this dictionary especially suited to their needs.

This book is the most straightforward and comprehensive electronics dictionary I have found. The illustrations are simple, and are easy to interpret. I think some terms have illustrations when they aren't needed. I really appreciate the fact that the mathematics is not too complicated.

Granted I am not a math wizz (not by a mile) and I have a strained relationship with the hardware side of computers, still and all, I found this title in question to be quite usefull. What it, i.e., McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Personal Computing
by Stan Gibilisco (Editor), has been able to do is to take complex computer terminology and to put this kind of terminology in plainer english. However, some concepts and terms in computer science still sounds like greek to me and that is not a good thing. Recommended.

This book is written in easy-to-understand language. It is one of the few encyclopedias I actually enjoyed reading. (There's even some humor.) It could use some more content about the Internet, and I'd like to see a few more illustrations in the next edition. I'm glad this book is not too mathematical.

Ok,what initially looks like a promising book turns out to be another dead loss in the world of "beginning/idiot/dummies" style books.

A basic understanding of Physics requires a comprehensive understanding of math. Mr Gibilisco provides nearly 170 pages of math review which consists of either too much information on a very basic subject (such as different notation for exponents) or too little in more complicated areas (such as vector equations). Some two/two-and-a-half pages are committed to how a calculator or scientist might express an exponent and yet not even a page is dedicated to the basics of vector arithmetic (there are pages of information on vectors but on the whole it is purely a summary form of what constitutes various vectors; this part of the book has no worked examples).

The summary section on math is fine as long as you pretty much know it already. If you do then you do not need to read it anyway. If you don't it simply is not upto scratch; hence, why bother? The books general tone is to talk down to people, especially those whom are of a mathematical bent, with constant little digs against those whom practice theoretical math and those that practice "real" science. Many of the techniques taught here are simply the way the author works out problems, not necessarily the way that those problems are worked out conventionally. Do I hear you say I like that idea? Fine. But you must tell people how to do it PROPERLY before you show them the WORKAROUND. The classic example here is how the author shows us to deal with scientific notation (his workaround is to work out everything in longhand, which was exactly what scientific notation is there to help us NOT to do).

In short if you are great at math the book is probably a good find, if - like me - you are not good at math, then don't expect to find an efficient tutor here. Find a math book that covers the basics first and then come back.

Go elsewhere if you are a math dummy!

This book is unique because of its "Part Zero" section on mathematics. I already knew this stuff (I learned it in high school) but the author says "Take what you can use and skip the rest." The quizzes and tests are in-depth and cover the subject well. I like this book. It does not assume I am stupid and it does not talk down.

This book is sadly misguided. The author not only does not understand relativity, but actually promulgates common misunderstandings as fact. For example: he says that even mathematically defined points, such as the point of intersection of moving straight lines, cannot exceed the speed of light. They can. Even worse, he says that there is no such thing as simultaneity in a distributed frame of reference. There is. He says the lack of simultaneity is due to the propagation delay of light. It is not. All these things are covered in any introductory text on Special Relativity. Reading this book will only mislead you. It was clearly never reviewed by a relativity physicist. It's sad that it was ever published.

I have owned this book since 1984, when I purchased the original edition from TAB Books. I found the approach unique, apparently written from a mathematician's point of view. But I was led to wonder about the accuracy of some of the material in the book, particularly of thought experiments that cannot be done in real life and which therefore cannot be positively verified or denied experimentally. For example, who is going to put clocks all over the solar system and then go to every planet to check their readings? But then, other books do the same thing, for example, asking the reader to imagine riding on a train travelling at eighty percent of the speed of light.

After looking at various mentions of this title around the Web (as a phrase in Google advanced search), I have found mostly positive comments, including one from a mathematician (!) in Alabama and another from an educational association in Arizona. These experts have recommended this book as good reading for their students. One fellow dismissed the book because he turned to a page and found some mention of UFOs, but confessed that he hadn't actually read the book yet.

Gibilisco's approach differs rather dramatically from most other relativity books because it is neither highfalutin nor silly. The style is, for the most part, clear. I think the explanations of simultaneity are a little hard to understand and could be misleading to some readers. Gibilisco could do a better job of explaining the relativity of simultaneity among objects in relative motion. It would be nice to have more discussion about paradoxes associated with Special Relativity. An updated edition could clarify some of these issues and also address the question, "Can anything travel faster than the speed of light in free space?"