Want to know how to use an electronic component? This first book of a three-volume set includes key information on electronics parts for your projects—complete with photographs, schematics, and diagrams. You’ll learn what each one does, how it works, why it’s useful, and what variants exist. No matter how much you know about electronics, you’ll find fascinating details you’ve never come across before.

Convenient, concise, well-organized, and precise

Perfect for teachers, hobbyists, engineers, and students of all ages, this reference puts reliable, fact-checked information right at your fingertips—whether you’re refreshing your memory or exploring a component for the first time. Beginners will quickly grasp important concepts, and more experienced users will find the specific details their projects require. 304 pages.

PDF sampler here.

Check out Volume 2 & Volume 3!

• Unique: the first and only encyclopedia set on electronic components, distilled into three separate volumes
• Incredibly detailed: includes information distilled from hundreds of sources
• Easy to browse: parts are clearly organized by component type
• Authoritative: fact-checked by expert advisors to ensure that the information is both current and accurate
• Reliable: a more consistent source of information than online sources, product datasheets, and manufacturer’s tutorials
• Instructive: each component description provides details about substitutions, common problems, and workarounds
• Comprehensive: Volume 1 covers power, electromagnetism, and discrete semi-conductors; Volume 2 includes integrated circuits, and light and sound sources; Volume 3 covers a range of sensing devices.

Charles Platt became interested in computers when he acquired an Ohio Scientific C4P in 1979. After writing and selling software by mail order, he taught classes in BASIC programming, MS-DOS, and subsequently Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. He wrote five computer books during the 1980s.

He has also written science fiction novels such as The Silicon Man (published originally by Wired books) and Protektor (from Avon Books). He stopped writing science fiction when he started contributing to Wired magazine in 1993, and became one of its three senior writers a couple of years later.

Charles began contributing to Make magazine in its third issue and is currently a contributing editor. Currently he is designing and building prototypes of medical equipment in his workshop in a northern Arizona wilderness area.