For Peter Brackett: Filter Theory and Design book question

"Joel Kolstad" a écrit dans le message de news: snipped-for-privacy@corp.supernews.com...

cover?

Just checked and it has the same ISBN.

Thanks Fred.... as far as I can tell, then, there were a couple of different publishers and apparently not all of the cover art is the same.

"Joel Kolstad" a écrit dans le message de news: snipped-for-privacy@corp.supernews.com...

different

Strangely that's the same publisher (Matrix) as mine. This one is dated sept 77. Mine is copyrighted 1978.

Interesting...

I had thought I had a copy of Peter's book, but it turned out that "the one on my shelf" was no longer there as it was actually a library copy. Oops. :-) Hence I'm now after a used one; several sites have that same picture of a bandpass filter on the front rather than a gyrator.

---Joel

Joel, Fred:

Our book Adel S. Sedra and Peter O. Brackett, "Filter Theory and Design: Active and Passive" Matrix Publishers, Champaign IL, 1978 was printed a couple of times and the second printing has a different cover than the first.

The first printing had a red cover embossed in gold with a schematic diagram of Andreas Antoniou's celebrated gyrator [GIC] circuit on it. The binding on the original red cover version was not very robust and so older copies are often in rough shape.

The book has been out of print for years, and Matrix Publishers went out of business years ago. There seems to be a copy of Sedra and Brackett in almost all [well stocked] technical libraries that I have looked into. e.g. University of Toronto, MIT, Stanford, GA Tech, FIT, Waterloo, UAH, Queens... etc. I have also heard that it was [illegally] translated into both Russian and Chinese and published there without license [behind the old "iron curtain"].

Adel and I used that textbook to teach "filters" for several years at UoT and at Queens. I had developed, with the help of Martin Snellgrove a suite of professional level filter design programs called FILTOR that we used to generate examples in the book and that I used in professional practice. Quite a few, now prominent, analog experts took those courses from Adel and I and others. We know the book and FILTOR was used at a few other prominent universities. Although containing lots of "theory" we felt that it was a very "practical" book, and we know that lots of "practicioners" used it as a reference without ever having taken any classes based upon it. There were several 10's of thousands of copies of the book printed, but Adel and I never made enough money from it to make it worth the time we put into it. Of course that's true of almost any "graduate" level textbook, they are usually just labors of love [grin].

But folks must think it's valuable, because I have seen used copies of the book listed for in excess of $200 on Amazon in recent years! I guess that, if you need it you need it!

I actually don't know who owns the copyright on the book currently. One of these days, I'll ask my co-author Adel Sedra who holds the copyright. Adel is currently the Dean of Engineering at University of Waterloo, he probably knows who holds the copyright, since he keeps up on publications. As you are probably aware, Adel has published a few other books as well. Although the technology of active RC networks is "dated", there are still some who need to use it, and... maybe it's possible to "publish" Filter Theory and Design again on the Internet using "Lulu". I should look into that, it's apparently not a big deal. Anyone know "Lulu"? Lulu is neat!

Speaking of authors making money on textbook publications... the "real" money is only made on high volume mid level [sophmore or junior] textbooks. I know that Adel and Ken Smith [God love him...What a guy, Ken was my "first" analog instructor!] have both made good money on their Oxford University Press books, in many editions, that are used all over the world. Namely, Adel S. Sedra and Kenneth C. Smith, "Microelectronic Circuits", Oxford University Press, New York, 1982, 1987, 1991, 1998, 2002. That book has become a world-wide best seller, and it is well deserved. There are no finer teachers of electronics circuits and analog techniques than Adel and Ken.

-- Pete Indialantic By-the-Sea, FL

Thank you for the clarification, Peter.

Yes, I have checked out library copies before. Hopefully you'll forgive me if I'm tempted to scan in some sections while I'm waiting to purchase one used...

I enjoy the Art of Electronics web site where they have photos of some of those illegal translations..

...and those who "re-discover" it every know and again and turn it into a journal paper...

I wasn't familiar with it, but it looks cool; I'd be definitely purchase a copy there, if it becomes available.

If authors got to keep 80% of the average textbook's purchase price, it might be a different story...

I purchased the most recent edition about a year ago now, as the one I used in college was about 2 revisions back (it had the then-impressive "64kbit!!!" DRAM on the cover :-) ). Probably due to its popularity, Microelectronics Circuits can often be found for heavily discounted prices on Amazon; it's really an incredible deal (even at full price) given the amount of material it covers.

---Joel

Sedra & Smith is a very good book. Alas my technical Library doesnt have your book in it. yet.

Cheers Terry

I got the version with Antonious GIC on the front and use it quite often!

ISBN 0-916469-14-2

MVH

Lasse