I remember when Don used to post on S.E.D. years ago. I talked wth him once or twice in the 90s. I bought a couple of his books like The TTL Cookbook and TV Typewriter.
Don was 83
Great guy. His Active Filter Cookbook is still worth having around.
May God hold him in memory eternal.
But Williams and Taylor's "Electronic Filter Design Handbook" is a whole lot better, if you design your filters.
Don was kind of an American icon in the electronics publishing world.
boB
The more popular end of it. Horowitz and Hill are distinctly more iconic at the more academic end. #3 in circuit design where Don is #277.
Don was publishing a few years earlier than the Art Of Electronics.
But they were different material so not exactly comparable.
Don was more DIY computer and logic. They were both good publications IMO.
boB
The comparison isn't difficult. Don wasn't in the same league.
Don's were aimed at a less demanding market, and didn't have as much to offer.
Leave it to Bozo to FUCK UP a memorial thread!
I'm afraid that I can not disagree with that.
boB
He is a gigantic minus sign. That can't be fun.
Memorial threads have to be accurate - not that Flyguy would have any idea about that. Don was usfull in the area, for the price. He wasn't great but he was useful.
John Larkin expects to be flattered non-stop, and thinks that Don Lancaster had the same character defect. Flyguy is just a malicious half-wit.
Then you'd better learn a bit more about the subject. Flyguy can't - senile dementia has put paid to that - but you might be able to.
Don Lancaster wrote books in the 70's that kids bought at Radio Shack and that changed the world.
He had a very friendly writing style. He'd talk about filter circuits, for example, in practical terms with examples, and interleave little sections called "The Math Behind", instead of scaring off the kids by starting a chapter with pages of equations.
So a kid could build and test one of his circuits right away, and then maybe get curious about the theory. That was downright sneaky.
Actually it didn't. People like Tim Berners-Lee and Donald W Davies had a much larger effect. Bob Widlar and Barry Gilbert gave the kids components worth playing with, and that was a whole lot more effective thanDon Lancaster's hobby level text-books.
He was a useful guy, but lets not go over the top.
Jesus. This group hasn't changed at all. Pissing on a man's funeral ?
I also just realized that this was the guy who did the CMOS cookbook, which was the most beloved book in collection. I used it more than any I had. Didn't he also write a lot of articles for Popular Electronics? RIP, Mr. Lancaster.
Yes, that one too. Don did get people interested in trying different electonics components and learing about them. Even if people like Bob Widlar and others designed the components they used in their circuits. It takes both kinds to design products. They are designed around other people's components.
Don also wrote in magazines like Popular Electronics which a lot of us read back then to help us get started.
And, AoE as well but for me, I hadn't seen that book until around 1990 or so. Way later than Don Lancaster started writing.
boB
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