Any one who is interested in electronics would have come across this IC – 555. It is the one component that is used in many wide range of applications. 555 Timer is used in a variety of applications including monostable and astable multivibrators, dc-dc converters, digital logic probes, waveform generators, analog frequency meters and tachometers, temperature measurement and control devices, voltage regulators etc. So it is essential that you should have a deeper understanding of 555 IC and how it is used in these applications. The best way to learn about anything in this world is to – ‘get your hands wet’. You should read,understand and do things on your own with 555 IC and that is the best way to learn more and more. So here I am introducing you to 3 great books that covers lots of 555 timer circuits and applications. All of them are from the most popular author in electronics – Forrest M Mims. He is well known for his book on basic electronics- “Getting started in Electronics”, which has been sold many million copies. We have reviewed his book about basic electronics and 3 other books to ‘Get started in electronics’ in a previous article. You can read them here:-
4 Great Books to learn and Get started in Basic electronics
Note:- All these 4 books have a sound explanation about theoretical concepts of 555 IC and you can learn a lot about the design side concepts, especially in time delay design.
Before going deep into the book reviews of 555 , we have written some good articles about 555 IC – focused on theory. You can read them here:-
1. 555 Timer – A complete basic guide
2. A collection of 555 Timer Circuits and Projects done by CircuitsToday folks!
Now lets get to the book review part. All the 4 books can be bought from Amazon by using the direct BUY links given in this article. These are Global editions in the range of 10 to 12 USD, so I hope any one can afford the price! After all these books are really worth your money.
Book #1 – Timer, Op Amp, and Optoelectronic Circuits & Projects by Forrest M Mims
This book is a combination of Mims 3 “Engineers Notebook” series. The publisher has combined 3 books written by Mims, namely 555 Timer Circuits, Op Amp projects and Optoelectronics. So this book contains more than 25 circuits based on 555 IC, more than 50 Op amp circuits and a good collection of optoelectronic circuits. All of them are hand tested by Forrest Mims himself and you can build all of them by using the associated components. So by reading this book you will be able to build many applications like – “Sound Effects Generator”, LED Flasher, Chirp Generator, Photophone, Frequency Meter etc etc.
To Buy This Book
BUY – Timer, Op Amp, and Optoelectronic Circuits & Projects from Amazon-Global
Book #2 – Science and Communication Circuits & Projects by Forrest M Mims
Like the first book, this is also a compilation of 3 of Mims “Engineers Notebook” series, Science projects+Environmental projects+Communication projects. The applications and circuits listed in this book are closely linked with real life and real world – like applications which measure solar light, temperature, pressure, rain drops, solar radiation etc. These are quite interesting and fun to build type applications listed in this book. You can make a seisometer, you can make a photometer to study sun light and its effects, you can learn more about rain and rain fall, and there is a good collection of radio communication projects too. Most of these circuits are build using 555 and 741 Op Amp.
To Buy This Book
BUY- Science and Communication Circuits Projects-from Amazon-Global
Book #3- Electronic Sensor Circuits & Projects, Volume III by Forrest M Mims
Well this is the third one and a really useful book because it deals with sensors. You can learn in great detail about how real world data such as temperature, pressure, light etc are sensed and converted to electrical signals for processing by circuits. Like the other 2 books listed above, this book also is a compilation of 3 “Engineers Notebook” series from Forrest Mims. They are Sensor projects+Solar cell projects+Magnet sensor projects. Any one who reads this book can learn lot about Solar cells, Photo resistors, thermistors, magnet switches which all can be then used to build circuits that can measure light, heat, pressure, sound etc.
To Buy This Book
BUY – Electronic Sensor Circuits & Projects, Volume III – from Amazon-Global
10 Comments
Mims is a Genius!!!!!!! I Have used his books since 1974 I Have Lost Track of the number of Books He Has Written But I Do own 5 of his Books
thank you sir,you have been of help
Is this a review of 3 books about the 555 timer? Or is this a review of 3 books by Forest Mims II that have rehashed and repacked by the publisher to include the 555 timer?
I don’t know, it just seems kind of bogus.
@Kevin – There is no good books on 555 other than one written by MiMs
its very helpful for b.tech students
i need book 555 project hindi pdf e book
If i want know about different ic`s.refer some books.
Thanks for sharing these books information. But the links given in “To Buy This Book” are showing 404 error pages. So, kindly once check it and give the proper links so that it would be helpful to many people like me.
Good day, pls were can i get does books in Nigeria?.
thanks we are graetfull