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Re: On electronics (was Computer Skills)



I may add that one does not learn the laws of nature while examining a
complex integrated circuit. The law of nature are certainly involved but
the behavior of a system is governed by the laws imposed by inventors
(do this when that happens, etc.) The system is so complex that laws of
nature are overshadowed by the "man-made" laws. A computer is an
example of a modern electronic gadget.

One may argue that the same is true for a vacuum tube, a relay or a
transistor.
But these "man-made" devices are simple enough and their understanding
is DIRECTLY based on the understanding of laws of nature. A system with
too many simple components, even a heterodyne receiver build with tubes,
is no longer appropriate for learning physics. Complex electronics is a child
of physics but that child is so far away from parents that the genealogy is
not
at all obvious. A clear distinction between the electronics of components and
electronics of complex systems may be useful. Learning the first (Bob was
saying "basic electronics") helps to learn physics, learning the second may
not
be so useful, unless one wants to become an electronics expert (a valuable
skill).

I suspect that electronic engineering today is very very different from what
it
was fifty years ago. What percentage of learning time do they devote to
physics
in teaching electronics today? Do we have some electronics experts on phys-L?

As for electronics I am no longer sure it is as important today as it was
when I learned it, also in the 50's. In those days electronics was really
applied physics. Today electronics means many things to many people.
To some it means what it used to be but most often it is defined
(implicitly) as a skill of connecting (or replacing) black boxes, such as
operational amplifiers, etc. The components, usually hidden, are too
small to investigate.
Ludwik Kowalski
Bob Sciamanda wrote:

Since I began teaching (in the 50's) I have argued for basic electronics
as a necessary ingredient of the physics curriculum, citing its ubiquity
in the implementation of almost any modern experimental procedure.