Burning off lunch and other heated topics (3)

There have been classic textbooks in the past and I just wonder if Electronic and Electrical Engineering by Lionel Warnes might turn out to be one for the future?

It is comprehensive in coverage, but not overmuch in depth. It has been written by someone who is totally at home in electronic, electrical and communications engineering. In addition to the basics, the author covers electrical machines, power electronics, microprocessors, analogue, digital and optical communications. There are even sections on telephony, traffic theory and ISDN. The book concludes with sections on instrumentation and measurements as well as 18 intelligible pages on EMC.

The remarkable thing is that it all comes together and one does not feel that anything important has been left out. My one slight regret is that the preface only covers this, the second edition. I have a preference for having the original and subsequent prefaces so that I can assess the changes that the author perceives in his subject.

Donard de Cogan is reader in electronics, University of East Anglia.