The book starts with an introduction to the basic concepts of electronics in Chapter 1. Signals, their frequency spectra, and their analog and digital forms are presented. Amplifiers are introduced as circuit building blocks and their various types and models are studied. The basic element of digital electronics, the digital logic inverter, is defined in terms of its voltage-transfer characteristic, and its various implementations using voltage and current switches are discussed. This chapter also establishes some of the terminology and conventions used throughout the text.
The next four chapters are devoted to the study of electronic devices and basic circuits and constitute the bulk of Part I of the text. Chapter 2 deals with operational amplifiers, their terminal characteristics, simple applications, and limitations. We have chosen to discuss the op amp as a circuit building block at this early stage simply because it is easy to deal with and because the student can experiment with op-amp circuits that perform nontrivial tasks with relative ease and with a sense of accomplishment. We have found this approach to be highly motivating to the student. We should point out. however, that pan or all of this chapter can be skipped and studied at a later stage (for instance in conjunction with Chapter 7, Chapter 8, and/or Chapter 9) with no loss of continuity.