Newnes Electrical Engineer’s Handbook

D.F. Warne

Preference :

There seems to be a trend in the public perception of engineering and technology that to be able to operate a piece of equipment or a system is to understand how it works. Nothing could be further from the truth. The gap between the ability to operate and a genuine understanding is, if anything, widening because much of the complexity added to modem electrical equipment has the specific aim of making it operable or ‘user-friendly’ without special training or knowledge.
The need for a basic explanation of principles, leading to a simple description of how various important and common classes of electrical equipment works, has never been stronger. Perhaps more so than in its predecessor, Newnes Electrical Pucker Book, an attempt is made to address fundamentals in this book, and the reader is encouraged to follow through any areas of interest using the references at the end of each chapter. More comprehensive coverage of all the subjects covered in this pocketbook is available in the Newnes Electrical Engineer’s Reference Book.
More so now than ever before, the specification and performance of electrical equipment is governed by national and international standards. While it would be inappropriate in a pocket book to cover standards in any detail, a summary of key standards is included for reference purposes at the end of each chapter.

The structure of the book is based around three groups of chapters, which address:

fundamentals and general material
the design and operation of the main classes of electrical equipment
special technologies which apply to a range of equipment

The first group comprises three chapters which set out fundamentals and principles running through all aspects of electrical technology. The opening chapter deals with fundamentals of electric and magnetic fields and circuits, with energy and power conversion principles.