Doug Lowe is a life-long tinkerer and a computer programming book author. He's written books on COBOL, Fortran, Visual Basic, IBM mainframe computers, mid-range systems, PCs and Web programming. He's the best-selling author of more than 30 For Dummies books. Dickon Ross is the Editor-in-Chief of E&T Magazine, published by the Institute of Electronics and Technology, and the Editor-in-Chief of Flipside, a science, engineering and technology magazine for young teenagers. He is the author of the UK edition of Electronics For Dummies.

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• Introduction 1Book I: Getting Started with Electronics 7Chapter 1: Entering the Exciting World of Electronics 9Chapter 2: Understanding Electricity 21Chapter 3: Creating Your Own Mad-Scientist Lab 37Chapter 4: Staying Safe 59Chapter 5: Reading Schematic Diagrams 69Chapter 6: Building Your Own Electronic Projects 83Chapter 7: Uncovering the Secrets of Successful Soldering 115Chapter 8: Measuring Circuits with a Multimeter 127Chapter 9: Catching Waves with an Oscilloscope 141Book II: Working with Basic Electronic Components 153Chapter 1: Working with Basic Circuits 155Chapter 2: Working with Resistors 197Chapter 3: Working with Capacitors 227Chapter 4: Working with Inductors 249Chapter 5: Working with Diodes and LEDs 261Chapter 6: Working with Transistors 287Book III: Working with Integrated Circuits 313Chapter 1: Introducing Integrated Circuits 315Chapter 2: The Fabulous 555 Timer Chip 327Chapter 3: Working with Op Amps 363Book IV: Getting into Alternating Current 383Chapter 1: Understanding Alternating Current 385Chapter 2: Working with Mains Voltage 397Chapter 3: Supplying Power for Your Electronics Projects 409Book V: Working with Radio and Infrared 421Chapter 1: Tuning in to Radio 423Chapter 2: Building a Crystal Radio 437Chapter 3: Working with Infrared 449Book VI: Doing Digital Electronics 467Chapter 1: Understanding Digital Electronics 469Chapter 2: Getting Logical 483Chapter 3: Putting Logic Circuits to Work 505Chapter 4: Interfacing to Your Computer’s Parallel Port 535Chapter 5: Getting the Hang of Flip-Flops 567Book VII: Working with BASIC Stamp Processors 591Chapter 1: Introducing Microcontrollers and the BASIC Stamp 593Chapter 2: Programming in PBASIC 615Chapter 3: Discovering More PBASIC Programming Tricks 641Chapter 4: Adding Sound and Motion to Your BASIC Stamp Projects 661Book VIII: Having Fun with Special Effects 679Chapter 1: Synchronising Sight and Sound with a Colour-Organ Circuit 681Chapter 2: Unearthing Hidden Treasure with a Handy Metal Detector 693Chapter 3: Making Light Dance to the Music 713Chapter 4: Hacking a Toy to Make a Talking Puppet 741Index 767