Electronic Projects from the Next Dimension : Paranormal Experiments for Hobbyists

Rating:
Summary: Book ok but projects not entirely user friendly
Review: I enjoy the book but unless someone is knowledgable in electronics I would not suggest this book. I know some electronics and I found this book lacking in respect to listings of parts values in several projects. I have basically had to guess at parts values. Several projects require winding ferrite rod coils and neglect to say with what kind of wire (ie magnetic or coated). There are references to using potentiometers but a failure to list what ratings. Just stating a 47 ohm potentiometer is not sufficient. This actually makes the projects more costly to build. Some of these parts you cannot readily find anymore in electronic shops whether looking in a retailer like Radio Shack or a surplus place. I have found that Ferrite Rods can be ordered online and thats about it. I would say that knowledge wise this book is great but it is not very detailed in its listing of parts values which is pretty critical I think. It has caused me several headaches as it is.

Rating:
Summary: Good initiative but not convincing
Review: The book has a very good initiative: to collect a number of circuits dedicated to paranormal experiments. However, after reading through the first few chapters, I was very dissappointed. Personally I do believe in ghosts and life-after-death, but the experiments described cannot offer any scientific proof of anything, they are just plain sloppy! Recording some sound from a noise source and then analyzing the recording later! Well, you might pick up some audio from next door or your TV downstairs! These types of results can never convince anyone, no wonder that these "paranormal investigators" can never make it to the mainstream. Other negative comments include: The numerous circuits for noise generation, but no explanation of the advantage or difference among them; in fact, they might all produce the same results! then why waste so much space describing them in the first place! The camera in front of the TV is another joke, one might pick up some weird patterns but how can you claim that they are ghosts?

Rating:
Summary: Very interesting book
Review: This book is technically very good, the author is a respected educator, and potential buyers should not be put off by the paranormal aspect of it. The experiments are interesting in any context. Just as a book about, for example, fly fishing does not guarantee that fish exist, this book does not address the question of whether any spirits really are out there attempting to communicate with us. It does, however, present logical ideas about how we might detect such attempts if they do exist. It follows in the footsteps of similar studies conducted by many respected scientists and engineers, including Edison.

Rating:
Summary: For the amateur scientist
Review: This is a great collection of projects. I got the book about a year ago. I constructed some of the projects and I am working on another one right now. They have all been fun and the book does a good job of documenting the projects. The results of some of the experiments are quite interesting. I don't know if there is anything paranormal going on, but it is hard to explain some of the phenomena. Recommended for the amateur scientist!

Rating:
Summary: Electronic Joke
Review: WARNING!!! This book really dissappointed me from begining to end! Though the history is well documented through-out,that is not the main reason why I bought the book. If you have a DEGREE in electronics and don't mind dishing out hundreds or thousands of dollars to replace your equipment that might be fried ( if not yourself!! ) get the book! I am no dummy, but I do not have the time to learn to become an electronic technician. All 258 pages of this book, are designed for you, the reader to make circuit boards to attach to your electronic equipment to do experiments with. EVERY part of this book was making a circuit board of somewhat. I could not even use 1 of this books experiments! This book is NOT for the non-electronic circuit board builder. I unfortunatly wasted my good money on something I can NEVER use in this life time or dimension. Wish someone had wrote a review like this before I bought. Every experiment requires you to build a circuit board. Big Joke. Not for the average paranormalist or ghosthunter.