Fundamentals of Electrical Engineering By Thaddeus A Roppel and Charles A Gross

Contemporary engineering requires that practitioners specialize There is simply too much to know for any one individual to deal with all of the technical aspects of most engineering projects Still, real-world engineering problems are almost never neatly divided into mechanical, electrical, chemical, civil, and other categories Thus, there is a need for all engineers to have at least a basic knowledge of the full spectrum of specialties throughout the engineering profession, not to mention consideration of economics and environmental, political, and social issues It is paradoxical that while we need an ever-increasing depth of knowledge in our particular field, we also need an ever-broadening general education.

This book presumes to present the fundamentals of electrical engineering It is recommended to those who seek an understanding of the fundamentals of electrical engineering, separated from important, but nonessential, digressions into detailed technical analyses that are essential to in-depth specialized studies This is not to say that the material is written in the “EE for dummies” style, which is so popular in contemporary writing The fundamentals are treated with the same scientific and mathematical rigor as one would rightfully expect in any engineering textbook It is just that many topics which are necessary for one to learn in order to claim the title of “expert” are intentionally omitted The book is intended as the beginning, and not the end, of EE study.

Of necessity, the content is colored by the judgment of the authors as to just what these “fundamentals” are, based on their personal experience with a combined 73 years of teaching and practice Still, a conscious effort has been made to include the many suggestions and constructive criticisms of colleagues within and outside of electrical engineering.

In the context of contemporary engineering curricula, this book is recommended as a textbook for two types of courses: 

◾ A Fundamentals of Electrical Engineering course which would be taken by EE majors and offered at institutions which prefer to give their students an overview of EE before in-depth EE courses are required One benefit of such a course is that much of the time spent on the fundamentals in specialty courses could be then reduced 

◾ A course which would be taken by non-EE majors to provide an understanding of EE fundamentals and a general appreciation of just what EE is all about.