Fun with electricity

Building and operating simple electrical apparatus in the home workshop is probably the most effective way of starting the foundation for a career in that most exciting and magical of all worlds — science. This book is a simple how-to-do-it and how-to-understand-it guide for beginners in electricity. This subject, the foundation of electronics, is the gateway to learning something of the great fundamental truths of the laws of nature. Familiar analogies are included where possible to help fix in the mind of the experimenter the purpose of each problem and to illustrate the relationship between mechanical, electrical and magnetic phenomena. The builder not only learns to make galvanometers, motors, generators, transformers and electric meters, but also how to apply them in the solution of simple electrical problems. With this as a basis, the reader can then refer to more advanced books for an explanation of the underlying theories. The student is guided in the handling and care of tools, and how and where to procure electrical supplies. There are many sources where materials can be purchased. These would include radio parts stores, hardware stores, department and 5- and 10-cent stores. Radio parts catalogs are excellent in this respect. And finally, with a little ingenuity, many of the items found around the home can be put to new and unexpected uses. In this book the use of mathematics has been completely avoided. However, no study of electricity and electronics can proceed very far without some use of simple arithmetic. The reader should become familiar, as soon as possible, with the arith-metical relationships to be found in these subjects.