[.ca] Electric Circuits (ISBN 0131989251)

Prepare yourself for a lot of work:
I am using this text right now in a circuit analysis course, and I believe the text is actually making the course harder than it needs to be. I have a number of years experience in electronics and have taken circuit analysis in the past (far past). This book, while doing a fair job on the basic explanation of the principals, uses trivial examples for illustration, then leaves you to figure out the more complex drill and homework problems with absolutely no help whatsoever. In addition, the authors and Prentice apparently think that a student solutions manual would hinder the education experience, so their solution set is illustrated only in the instructor's manual, which is unavailable to students. Consequently, you have no idea whether you have worked the problems correctly unless the instructor corrects them, or provides access to the solution manual somehow. If I'm working problems at 2 am, running to the library or the department office is not an option. The authors should redo this book completely and make it useful to students, rather than relying on the good graces of the teachers who use it. In the meantime, be prepared to do a lot of outside research to help you with the examples. Unless you have to have it for a class, send Prentice a message and buy a different book.

Very good & understandable First course in Electric Circuits:
After trying to read other electric circuits texts, such as by authors Dorf and Svoboda, this text is not easy but very understanable. For example Nilsson covers parallel and series RLC circutis that lead straight to 2nd Order differential equations; but he manages to find common ground so the math appears similar for both types of RLC circuits. Nilsson uses symbols and math notation normally found in popular Differential Equations textbooks. This is great since some electric circuits authors generally like to develop their own notation set -- which for students makes learning much longer and harder. Technical authors need to standardize math notation used in technical courses as a way to eliminate much of the inherent confusion that now exists in many technical textbooks. Authors quickly rushed to developing their own notation in order to later avoid publication problems dealing with plagiarism issues that some could later raise. Also, Nilsson coverage of Laplace is also clear. Problems at the end of chapter are typically way above the coverage of the chapter's material, but maybe someday all authors will stop doing this nonsense. Someday textbooks may even come packaged and sold with a partial solution manual to help students overcome difficult problems. Gerard J. Sagliocca, P.E. Albany, N Y (USA)

An effective textbook for circuits classes:
I used the second edition of this textbook in my sophomore EE circuits classes. The textbook is well written, and provides thorough explanations of theory. The number of examples presented is limited, however, and much of the development problems for any give subject appear as homework problems. As a reference, this book is only for those who have taken circuits courses from a good instructor.

Absolutely Horrible:
I used this book for my introductory circuits class three years ago and, upon reflection, it was one of the worst books I was forced to buy in 4 years of engineering. The examples are too trivial to help with the problems, which are too hard because the explanations are horrible. My teacher wasn't much better at explaining the material, making this the worst class I have ever taken. But after taking more advanced circuits classes, I find them to be less appalling.

A good book:
I find this book understandable and well written for an introductory textbook. I have limited circuit analysis background and after reading the book, gained a lot of understanding of the basics. Who would sell this book for 8 dollars baffles me.