The
Manga Guide to Electricity – It’s shockingly easy
Reviewed by
Harry {doc} Babad © 2009
Author: Kazuhiro Fujitaki, Matsuda, Trend-pro Co, Ltd.
Publisher: No Starch Press – an O’Reilly Imprint
http://oreilly.com/catalog/9781593271978/
http://www.nostarch.com/mg_electricity.htm
Released: March 11, 2009 Edition 1st
Pages: 224
Size: Paperback - 9.1 x 7 x 0.8 inches
$ USD 19.95
list, $13.56 Street.
ISBN
10: 1-59327-197-2
ISBN
13: 9781593271978
Audience: Literate folks who want an easy and fun read introduction to electricity.
Strengths: The
Manga Guide to Electricity teaches
electricity in an innovative and refreshing way by combining authentic
Japanese-style manga cartoons with practical educational content.
Weaknesses: The book occasionally introduces a
concept with no precedent or orienting text. But I could Wikipedia the
missing information that, so it created no serious problem. |
|
Testing
of many of Scotts Hints, those I did not know already, was carried out on my
iMac 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 2 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM running Mac OS X
version 10.5.4.
Product and
company names and logos in this review may be registered trademarks of their
respective companies. |
Introduction
Including Publisher’s
This
is, much to my surprise the third book in the Manga educational series
republished in English by No Starch Press. You’ve red my reviews of both the
statistics and databases books in macC… it would appear I’m hooked. This book
also followed the usual pattern of presenting information with Manga
illustration to break the ice, and them providing detail in an illustrated, not
comic, text format.
The book is unique because
it does not contain quizzes or summary review material. It is also special in a
way that is not really possible in an American origin textbook. It gives the
second fair treatment of the real alterative energy sources for electrical
generation that includes nuclear (rectors.) Unlike President Obama’s regular
omission of mentioning nuclear power, when talking up green energy, this book
recognizes its benefits. After all, Japan, like France, get most of their power
from nuclear and hydropower sources.
Want More Information: Checkout the new textbook I’ve
co-authored, called HOT! — Everything
you wanted to know about nuclear science and were afraid to ask. By: Raul A.
Deju, Ph.D., Harry Babad, Ph.D. and Michael A. Deju. © 2009 The EnergySolutions
Foundation. First Edition Published March 2009, ISBN Number 0615277543 {A
book for High-School Students and fellow travelers}
No
that wasn’t the reason I reviewed the book, only a pleasant surprise; but
physics, including electricity didn’t tale well in high school. I thought it
was time for a quick nudge of the memory box. Okay, this is what the publisher
says about the book.
“Rereko
is just your average high-school {Japanese style} girl from Electopia, the land
of electricity, but she's totally failed her final electricity exam! Now she
has to go to summer school on Earth. And this time, she has to pass.
Luckily,
her ever-patient tutor Hikaru is there to help. Join them in the pages of The
Manga Guide to Electricity as Rereko examines everyday electrical devices like
flashlights, heaters, and circuit breakers, and learns the meaning of abstract
concepts like voltage, potential, current, resistance, conductivity, and
electrostatic force
.
“The
real-world examples that you'll find in The Manga Guide to Electricity will teach you:
§ What
electricity is, how it works, how it's created, and how it can be used
§ The
relationship between voltage, current, and resistance (Ohm's law)
§ Key
electrical concepts like inductance and capacitance
§ How
complicated components like transformers, semiconductors, diodes, and
transistors work
§ How
electricity produces heat and the relationship between current and magnetic fields
“If
thinking about how electricity works really fries your brain, let The Manga
Guide to Electricity teach you all things electrical in a shockingly fun way.”
Basically,
the book meets its goals in a relaxed, albeit fact filled, and easy to follow manner.
In this
book...
The science and engineering of things
electrical including power generation and a basic but easy to understand
discussion of electrical circuits in made digestible by the many fine
illustrative examples.
The book won't
teach you to be an electrician or an electrical engineer, but it will ground
you solidly in how electricity works, including it's creation, and its
underlying physics and mechanics.
The book is neither Electricity 101 nor even the material in my high school
science text on the subject. However, concepts of current, AC & DC systems,
capacitance, potential, voltage, and more, are well taught, including the
primary methods used to generate electricity in the world today. It includes,
too briefly from my viewpoint, how components like transformers,
semiconductors, diodes, and transistors work. If learning about electricity is
your goal, The Manga Guide to Electricity is a great place to start.
I agree with Dale
Farris Golden Triangle PC Club April 2009, “that since this book is written by a
Japanese author, the context of the comic characters that form the basis of the
story of the book is decidedly Japanese. This means the frequent references to
Japanese items, concepts, objects, or institutions may take some getting used
to by Western readers unfamiliar with Japanese culture.” Doc sez, take a deep
breath, and go with the flow, and you’ll even learn about more about Japanese
culture.
[http://www.gtpcc.org/gtpcc/mangaguidetoelectricity.htm]
…And lest I
forget, comics have been widely used, not Manga style of course, in France for
science education purposes. Then of course as the teacher-hated but ubiquitous “Classic
Comics, for reading a digest of a “great book” or three.
Kudos and
Things I Learned
There are no
problems to solve in the book, it uses no significant math, a plus for me who
is allergic to that subject and who find most problem in textbook unrealistic
if not boring.
There is a
fine six page index make it easy to find things you’ve read but to read again,
Where concepts are too lightly treated, or abruptly introduced, there always
Wikipedia including its Energy Portal, The British site School Physics, the US
government’s new Science.gov site.
Disappointments
and Discomforts
§ There are too few information/examples of
how certain simple circuit elements, like solenoids, are applied.
§ Concepts like reverse bias charge, are dropped out of the metaphysical
either, laid on the student and then abandoned like a war torn orphan.
§ In a number of places, acronyms are
introduced with no translation of what the letters stand for.
This
constitutes an insignificant number of troublesome-to-Doc items, and except for
nit pickers like me, are not troublesome.
Conclusion
& Recommendation
This is a
well-written and illustrated book, which is quite practical about the nature of
things electrical in our daily lives. It can serve as an excellent introduction
for a middle-high school student interested in learning more about electricity,
but would also be appropriate for the adult with no math or little science
background.
If you know
anyone, especially someone who enjoys Manga, or a person who appreciates
graphics served with their technical text. In addition that person is interested in a basic introduction to
electricity, this book is well worth the read. The author succeeds in
presenting a clear, easy to understand guide to electricity accessible to all
of us who only worry about our electricity when the power goes out.
Buy it; it’s
worth the price and well worth my stingy 4.5 macC’s
