Understanding Digital Electronics

Don't be left behind by modern developments in digital electronics! They present a fascinating new world of achievement which can be easy to understand, if you start at the beginning. Everyone is familiar with digital displays on watches and clocks and calculators, for example. Each number is formed from seven rectangular 'light bulbs', with the correct number of bulbs switched on by a digital circuit to light up the number required. Digital electronics, in fact, is based on devices which work on an on/off basis, or 'count' in steps of 1 (i.e., in 'digits'). The basic devices are quite simple, but when interconnected with tens, hundreds or even thousands of similar devices can perform a fantastic range of calculations, store and give out information, solve problems etc., all at fantastic speed. It is the number and complexity of interconnections of such devices that can be bewildering - not how the actual devices work. Their working can be studied in three different ways. Mechanical equivalents in terms of switches and symbols (called block logic), which anyone can understand because you can 'see' how it works. Truth tables which display all possible conditions of a digital device, from which you choose the one you want, e.g., the ten possible states of a digital number display. Binary arithmetic for working out solutions mathematically. Plus, of course, the basic digital circuits involved which provide all the functions required. How digital electronics works, with clear line drawings to illustrate circuits and their applications, is what this book is all about. It starts from first principles and works right through to 'talking' to computers. The author has considerable experience in the field of practical electronics and is noted for his ability to explain technicalities in language that is easy to understand.