Electric Circuits (7th Edition)

Rating:
Summary: Prepare yourself for a lot of work
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Helpful for the Undergrad Engineer Student
Review: I found this book very helpful as an introductory book for learning the basic concepts of electricity, cirucits, and how to apply higher mathematics and calculus to help with these problems. It provided be a good foundation for circuits prior to taking my second semester electrical engineering class. One downfall, however, is that unlike other science texts, the answers to the odd end of chapter problems are not given in the back of the book. Hopefully, an answer key will be published. Secondly, I didn't really think there was enough information in the first couple of chapters to help a student fully understand Ohm's Law or Kirchoff's Laws. I was still confused after two weeks and had to consult another text for assistance. Other than these two drawbacks, however, Nilsson's Electric Circuits was a helpful textbook.

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Horrible
Review: 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.