Re: Get started in Electronics book for 14 year old

I heartily agree with all the comments about doing experiments. I
remember getting a couple of 'radio kits' back in the early 60s (when I
was still well under the age of 10) which actually gave me an incentive
to dig deeper into mathematics and physics, beyond my natural
inclinations and even overcoming the boring teachers we had at the time
;)

During the time I was teaching electronics (to ONC/OND level), the
practical experiments were where my students really learned the subject
(although the theory behind the experiments was necessary of course).

That said, there's a point beyond which you'll need to understand at
least some of the underlying physics and a decent grasp of mathematics.
My favourite location for those materials are the various vendors who
publish papers on their chosen speciality (to showcase their latest and
greatest of course, but with the side benefit of a pretty good overview
of the subject). Then there are resources at various educational sites
(MIT comes to mind).

If you want to find out just who is in the business of making parts,
then even though Google is the search of choice if you know what you
are looking for, I have found the semiconductor subway
(http://www-mtl.mit.edu/semisubway/semisubway.html) to be a useful
resource if you want to find out who makes stuff.

I have never found a similar map for passives, though.

As for books, there are a lot of them out there but (speaking as
someone who has reviewed such books) a lot of them are filled with
non-intuitive details, and sometimes outright blatant errors. The ones
listed above seem pretty good, though.

Good luck - let us know how your son gets on.

Cheers

PeteS

.

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