Mail Call

[silverfox]

Well, I've already got the free version of this book on the computer but there's something about the physical realm that makes the real thing a greater experience. Of course you pay for what you get and this cost me $66 bucks to touch. Anyway, I got this off Wonderbooks and it's in great condition. Haven't had long to look through it but something I did notice in the first hour: A Dr. Partridge was a contributor in the chapter on transformers. I say contributor but, that is only in the sense that Langford Smith references some papers he wrote in about 1939. I suspect, but, not sure, this is the same "Partridge" that ended up manufacturing Partridge Transformers. In any event, what is becoming apparent very quickly is the difference in understanding between the Engineers of Old vs. the CAD Engineers of today. The in depth knowledge exposited by authors like Lanford Smith and others, and the ability to explain the principles associated with their technical fields in easily understood prose is, to say the least, phenomenal. While there are those today able to share the same forum, I seriously doubt they are as numerous as those that used the slide rule to design components of Electrical or Aerospace engineering.

Well, another book for the library but definitely and easier read than most.

silverfox.

[shooter]

definitely and easier read than most

Every time I try and read a little more from my RDH, it seems as hard a reading Greek!
I like the pics though

[Ed_Chambley]

Oh yea!  I love mine.  I pick it up and read.  Get an idea and do something I think is cool. Every time I come up with something cool I find it has been done many times.  Your copy looks to be in much better shape than mine, but mine came from a TV and Radio repair shop and was used quite often.

[PRR]

> Engineers of Old vs. the CAD Engineers

Even for his period, Langford-Smith was exceptional. There's a lot of old crap. Radiotron Third exploded out of Australia to the rest of the world, because it was that good. The Fourth is just an expansion.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritz_Langford-Smith

[HotBluePlates]

... there's something about the physical realm that makes the real thing a greater experience. ...

HUGE thanks to PRR for getting a hardcopy of this (and many other books) to me a while back!  Although I'm very comfortable reading a digital copy, there's nothing like being able to flip through actual pages, or finger-bookmark several sections at once to link different ideas.

... the ability to explain the principles associated with their technical fields in easily understood prose is, to say the least, phenomenal. ...

definitely and easier read than most

Every time I try and read a little more from my RDH, it seems as hard a reading Greek!
I like the pics though

There is a logic to the order of chapters, but it's best not to read RDH4 front-to-back.  At least the first time.

There are also related concepts with pieces in different chapters, so it pays to read in more than one spot for some issues.

Last, RDH4 mostly presents "just the facts" so a guided tour is very helpful, just to grasp how straightforward & simple some of it really is.  It's also easy to get caught up in formula-derivation and go cross-eyed, but you can skip much of that:  the derivations are great for seeing how a formula springs from first-principles, but you can skip to the bottom for "how to calculate."  A guided tour could also give you the context of how to use the info presented.

[shooter]

get caught up in formula-derivation and go cross-eyed

Yep, it is, as a visual learner, my brain "focuses" on pics and formulas and my head spins
Time to call up the PDF and start....again