--- product_id: 25079158 title: "Practical Electronics for Inventors, Fourth Edition" price: "£42.59" currency: GBP in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/25079158-practical-electronics-for-inventors-fourth-edition store_origin: GB region: United Kingdom --- # Practical Electronics for Inventors, Fourth Edition **Price:** £42.59 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Practical Electronics for Inventors, Fourth Edition - **How much does it cost?** £42.59 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.co.uk](https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/25079158-practical-electronics-for-inventors-fourth-edition) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description Publisher's Note: Products purchased from Third Party sellers are not guaranteed by the publisher for quality, authenticity, or access to any online entitlements included with the product. A Fully Updated, No Nonsense Guide to Electronics Advance your electronics knowledge and gain the skills necessary to develop and construct your own functioning gadgets. Written by a pair of experienced engineers and dedicated hobbyists, Practical Electronics for Inventors, Fourth Edition, lays out the essentials and provides step by step instructions, schematics, and illustrations. Discover how to select the right components, design and build circuits, use microcontrollers and ICs, work with the latest software tools, and test and tweak your creations. This easy to follow book features new instruction on programmable logic, semiconductors, operational amplifiers, voltage regulators, power supplies, digital electronics, and more. Practical Electronics for Inventors, Fourth Edition, covers: Resistors, capacitors, inductors, and transformers Diodes, transistors, and integrated circuits Optoelectronics, solar cells, and phototransistors Sensors, GPS modules, and touch screens Op amps, regulators, and power supplies Digital electronics, LCD displays, and logic gates Microcontrollers and prototyping platforms Combinational and sequential programmable logic DC motors, RC servos, and stepper motors Microphones, audio amps, and speakers Modular electronics and prototypes Review: A must have for hobbyists, students, and amateurs... - This is a book that regardless of where you are on your learning path, or where you intend to go, if you are dealing with electronics in any capacity you need this book on your shelf. It doesn't matter if you are designing circuits, lighting a scale model, building custom PCs, a HAM, or figuring out an electrical glitch in your car, this is a wonderful reference to have on hand. Even if you're a student just starting out, this is still a book you want to get sooner or later, preferably sooner to act as a supplement to your studies. The book covers a tremendous amount of ground and gives a great overview from the basics through micrcontrollers. Likewise, this book does cover the laws and theorems of basic theory along with the math involved. In fact the first 1/4 of this book is spent just covering theory. From there it goes into the various components and how they work, circuit design, all sorts of references on how components are labeled, and more. So what exactly is this book then? It's somewhere between a glossary of electrical components and an encyclopedia. At least that's how I would describe it. The explanations are clear, concise, and I find the book overall easy to follow. Unfortunately there is nothing in the way of labs, quizzes, hands-on work, worksheets, etc. In other words, no way to interact with the material. It does offer good (if dated) advice on how to set up a lab, how to interpret readings on test equipment, where to go for supplies, and more along those lines. That's why I HIGHLY recommend this book as a supplement to either as an existing course or program, or as a reference to a hobbyist that is already active in the field. Can someone learn electronics with this book? It depends. As a primary source, I suppose it might be possible, but because it doesn't have the lab work or hands on element, I would say NOT recommended. As a secondary source, reference, or supplement to another program, absolutely. My only real complaint is that this is ready for a 5th Edition. Considering that the authors were doing a revised edition about every seven years or so previously, if anything it's overdue. This was originally written back in 2016 (it's now 2025 as I write this), and there have been advances in technology since then. For example there is no mention of the Raspberry Pi which is also used as a microcontroller and is relevant to robotics and whatnot. Also a few of the sources mentioned are no longer available. However be that as it may, it really doesn't detract from the value of what this book has to offer. Verdict: HIGHLY recommended! Review: A well deserved best seller. Excellent! - As other reviewer has noted the authors have made a very concientious effort to try to be clear and practical. This is not a theoretical book, although chapter 2 "Theory" alone may well be worth the price for book. Chapter 2 is the most difficult, extensive and theoretical chapter in the book, but worth the effort. The explanations are very detailed and organized on different levels of difficulty. The authors are very systematic in their approach. All basic RC / LC / RLC circuits are explained by calculus, by mechanical / hydraulical analogues and the behaviour is summarized in tables at the end of each section. The authors make a consistent effort to make sure the reader grasps the essentials. Whether the mathematics used in Chapter 2 is difficult or easy depends on the reader's prior background. Some knowledge of basic calculus helps, but is not an absolute requirement, as the solution of the equations is given and rather extensively explained by other means. Complex variables are also used, but the mechanics of complex variables calculations are explained clearly, simply and with enough worked examples and exercises to allow a dedicated reader to be able to learn how to get practical results without getting into the technical details. After chapter 2 the book gets very practical indeed, with detailed coverage of the elements of circuits (chapter 3). This chapter in particular is extremely well written The elements of circuits, from connectors to wires, to the different constructions, advantages, applications and disadvantages of different types of capacitors, resistors, inductors, batteries, connectors and even wires are explained at length. Transistors, Op Amps and Discrete Logic circuits are covered in the following chapters. An overview of microcontrollers and FPGAs is included but is not as deep, so if your interest is specifically in these you will have to expand with another book. Test equipment, oscilloscope and multimeter principles and use, pcb construction, recommndations on building your electronic component stockpile.... This book has almost everything I can think a beginner would need. While the book is not hardcover and somewhat floppy, it is sturdy enough to withstand heavy use. My volume is certainly not falling apart. T printing is black and white only, but the drawings and diagrams are very legible and clear. The paper quality used is a bit uneven throughout, with a few pages here and there printed on what seems more porous paper, but all perfectly legible. Some mistakes have made it to the fourth edition. 1. On pages 182 and 184 the title of the section should be "LCR circuit" instead of "LC circuit" 2. On page 302 section 3.5.2 the denominator of the expression in the example should be 1000 + 3000 ohms, instead of 1000 x 3000 ohms. The result is correctly stated as 4000 ohms. A well deserved best seller. If you know nothing about electronics it will get you to a very decent level of understanding. If you already know about electronics the explanations, tables, and detailed descriptions are very useful. It has a much gentler learning curve than the other classic book with a practical orientation "The Art of Electronics" by Horowitz, buy both if you can, but "Practical Electronics" is an excellent place to start. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #6,060 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #1 in Digital Design (Books) #1 in Integrated Circuits #1 in Microelectronics | | Customer Reviews | 4.7 out of 5 stars 2,374 Reviews | ## Images ![Practical Electronics for Inventors, Fourth Edition - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61JtUKEfXQL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A must have for hobbyists, students, and amateurs... *by G***R on May 27, 2025* This is a book that regardless of where you are on your learning path, or where you intend to go, if you are dealing with electronics in any capacity you need this book on your shelf. It doesn't matter if you are designing circuits, lighting a scale model, building custom PCs, a HAM, or figuring out an electrical glitch in your car, this is a wonderful reference to have on hand. Even if you're a student just starting out, this is still a book you want to get sooner or later, preferably sooner to act as a supplement to your studies. The book covers a tremendous amount of ground and gives a great overview from the basics through micrcontrollers. Likewise, this book does cover the laws and theorems of basic theory along with the math involved. In fact the first 1/4 of this book is spent just covering theory. From there it goes into the various components and how they work, circuit design, all sorts of references on how components are labeled, and more. So what exactly is this book then? It's somewhere between a glossary of electrical components and an encyclopedia. At least that's how I would describe it. The explanations are clear, concise, and I find the book overall easy to follow. Unfortunately there is nothing in the way of labs, quizzes, hands-on work, worksheets, etc. In other words, no way to interact with the material. It does offer good (if dated) advice on how to set up a lab, how to interpret readings on test equipment, where to go for supplies, and more along those lines. That's why I HIGHLY recommend this book as a supplement to either as an existing course or program, or as a reference to a hobbyist that is already active in the field. Can someone learn electronics with this book? It depends. As a primary source, I suppose it might be possible, but because it doesn't have the lab work or hands on element, I would say NOT recommended. As a secondary source, reference, or supplement to another program, absolutely. My only real complaint is that this is ready for a 5th Edition. Considering that the authors were doing a revised edition about every seven years or so previously, if anything it's overdue. This was originally written back in 2016 (it's now 2025 as I write this), and there have been advances in technology since then. For example there is no mention of the Raspberry Pi which is also used as a microcontroller and is relevant to robotics and whatnot. Also a few of the sources mentioned are no longer available. However be that as it may, it really doesn't detract from the value of what this book has to offer. Verdict: HIGHLY recommended! ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A well deserved best seller. Excellent! *by G***A on May 30, 2016* As other reviewer has noted the authors have made a very concientious effort to try to be clear and practical. This is not a theoretical book, although chapter 2 "Theory" alone may well be worth the price for book. Chapter 2 is the most difficult, extensive and theoretical chapter in the book, but worth the effort. The explanations are very detailed and organized on different levels of difficulty. The authors are very systematic in their approach. All basic RC / LC / RLC circuits are explained by calculus, by mechanical / hydraulical analogues and the behaviour is summarized in tables at the end of each section. The authors make a consistent effort to make sure the reader grasps the essentials. Whether the mathematics used in Chapter 2 is difficult or easy depends on the reader's prior background. Some knowledge of basic calculus helps, but is not an absolute requirement, as the solution of the equations is given and rather extensively explained by other means. Complex variables are also used, but the mechanics of complex variables calculations are explained clearly, simply and with enough worked examples and exercises to allow a dedicated reader to be able to learn how to get practical results without getting into the technical details. After chapter 2 the book gets very practical indeed, with detailed coverage of the elements of circuits (chapter 3). This chapter in particular is extremely well written The elements of circuits, from connectors to wires, to the different constructions, advantages, applications and disadvantages of different types of capacitors, resistors, inductors, batteries, connectors and even wires are explained at length. Transistors, Op Amps and Discrete Logic circuits are covered in the following chapters. An overview of microcontrollers and FPGAs is included but is not as deep, so if your interest is specifically in these you will have to expand with another book. Test equipment, oscilloscope and multimeter principles and use, pcb construction, recommndations on building your electronic component stockpile.... This book has almost everything I can think a beginner would need. While the book is not hardcover and somewhat floppy, it is sturdy enough to withstand heavy use. My volume is certainly not falling apart. T printing is black and white only, but the drawings and diagrams are very legible and clear. The paper quality used is a bit uneven throughout, with a few pages here and there printed on what seems more porous paper, but all perfectly legible. Some mistakes have made it to the fourth edition. 1. On pages 182 and 184 the title of the section should be "LCR circuit" instead of "LC circuit" 2. On page 302 section 3.5.2 the denominator of the expression in the example should be 1000 + 3000 ohms, instead of 1000 x 3000 ohms. The result is correctly stated as 4000 ohms. A well deserved best seller. If you know nothing about electronics it will get you to a very decent level of understanding. If you already know about electronics the explanations, tables, and detailed descriptions are very useful. It has a much gentler learning curve than the other classic book with a practical orientation "The Art of Electronics" by Horowitz, buy both if you can, but "Practical Electronics" is an excellent place to start. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ An excellent resource for electronic circuit design *by L***E on March 20, 2016* Having taken several Electrical Engineering courses as a part of my Software Engineering degree, and developed a keen interest in embedded systems, I wanted to pick up a book for reference on designing and building circuits. I was looking for something that would be useful both for reviewing topics and occasionally teaching myself something new, without wading through pages of examples and exercises, as is common with many full-blown textbooks. I read the description for the book, and it seemed to fit the bill, so I put it on pre-order and waited. It arrived around a week ago, and thus far it seems to be everything I was looking for, and more. If you don't want to sit through the rest of my review, I'll summarize by saying that this book is well worth the price. It is a big book, and covers a wide variety of topics in circuit analysis and design, from basic theory to electric motors to audio electronics. Each chapter includes an overview of the theory and big ideas of the subject, plus practical information for those looking to implement the ideas. I certainly was not disappointed. As I mentioned, this is a large book, checking in at nearly 1000 pages. "You could hurt someone with it," as my old literature teacher used to say. It may weigh heavy on the scale, but is light on your wallet, in the $20-$30 range for a new copy. Another reviewer has pointed out that the low price is partially enabled by printing on rather low-quality paper. This is true; the paper is not of particularly great quality, but in my opinion this does not detract from the book's worth. By no means is the book in danger of falling apart, so I would not let this minor issue deter you from picking up a copy. Now, regarding the content: this book is broken up into 16 chapters, or 17 if you count the three or four-page first chapter. The first "real" chapter is truly colossal, and fills almost 250 pages with the theory of electronic circuits. This alone is worth the price of admission. This is followed by another large chapter that deals with the basic components that are used in circuits everywhere, and includes many useful tables, diagrams, and sketches of almost every variation of the components imaginable (for example, the chapter describes 8 different styles of switches). From here, the book branches out into several areas of circuits. You can continue through the chapters in order, to learn about semiconductors, optoelectronics, and sensors; or you could jump ahead to chapter 12 to start on digital electronics, then continue to microcontrollers and programmable logic. In general, each chapter starts with a basic introduction to the topic, followed by subsections that dig deeper into the specifics. If there is anything to complain about structurally, it would be the rather odd placement of "hands on electronics," which is chapter number 7. The chapter itself focuses on the physical construction of circuits, including safety, diagrams, breadboards, and other lab equipment such as multimeters and power supplies. Given the content of the chapter, I feel that it would have made more sense to place it after the chapter on basic components, rather than wedged between sensors and op-amps. However, I certainly prefer to have the information in a strange location than not at all. All in all, this is an excellent reference for someone who wants a one-stop shop to review any of the wide variety of topics that are covered. This book does seem to be more focused on breadth of topics than depth, so it may be more useful to hobbyists than professionals. In either case, the book should be a valuable pickup for anyone in search of a solid overview of electronic circuits. ## Frequently Bought Together - Practical Electronics for Inventors, Fourth Edition - Make: Electronics: Learning by Discovery: A hands-on primer for the new electronics enthusiast - The Art of Electronics --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/25079158-practical-electronics-for-inventors-fourth-edition](https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/25079158-practical-electronics-for-inventors-fourth-edition) --- *Product available on Desertcart United Kingdom* *Store origin: GB* *Last updated: 2026-05-23*