Digital Electronics Demystified
Philosophy is sometimes described as the study of what people take for
granted. It examines the reasons why people make assumptions about things
in their lives by understanding the relationships between the basic ‘‘truths’’
that are used to come up with these assumptions. This analysis takes a very
precise logical path that is scientific in nature. For example, the following
statement can be broken down into a set of simple truths and the
relationships between them plotted out and understood to allow philosophers
to carry on the natural thought process (such as what is a body that has three
‘‘extensions’’ with a ‘‘thinking substance’’).
Thus, extens ion in lengt h, breadth and de pth, co nstitute s the nature of corpo r-
eal substan ce; and thou ght constitut es the na ture of thinkin g substa nce. For all
else that may be attribu ted to body presup poses extens ion, an d is but a mode of
this extended thing; as everyt hing that we find in mind is but so many divers e
forms of thinki ng. Desca rtes
Surprisingly enough, the rules that were developed for understanding
philosophic statements like the one above were applied in the 1930s and
1940s to help define how electrical circuits could be designed that would
be used in the first electronic computers. One of the elements of the success
of this effort was to reduce the electronic logic ‘‘truths’’ into two simple
electrical states.
These two electrical states are often represented as two numbers that can
be manipulated using ‘‘binary arithmetic.’’ Binary arithmetic was formally
described by the English mathematician George Boole in the middle of the
19th century and is often referred to as ‘‘Boolean arithmetic’’ or ‘‘Boolean
algebra’’ as a way to perform mathematical operations on numbers that only
have two values (‘‘0’’ or ‘‘1’’). These two values are manipulated within
electronic computers and other devices built from ‘‘digital electronics.’’
Over the past 60-plus years, digital logic circuits, processing binary
signals have been miniaturized, sped up and integrated together to create
the fantastic electronic gadgets that we take for granted. Despite their
granted. It examines the reasons why people make assumptions about things
in their lives by understanding the relationships between the basic ‘‘truths’’
that are used to come up with these assumptions. This analysis takes a very
precise logical path that is scientific in nature. For example, the following
statement can be broken down into a set of simple truths and the
relationships between them plotted out and understood to allow philosophers
to carry on the natural thought process (such as what is a body that has three
‘‘extensions’’ with a ‘‘thinking substance’’).
Thus, extens ion in lengt h, breadth and de pth, co nstitute s the nature of corpo r-
eal substan ce; and thou ght constitut es the na ture of thinkin g substa nce. For all
else that may be attribu ted to body presup poses extens ion, an d is but a mode of
this extended thing; as everyt hing that we find in mind is but so many divers e
forms of thinki ng. Desca rtes
Surprisingly enough, the rules that were developed for understanding
philosophic statements like the one above were applied in the 1930s and
1940s to help define how electrical circuits could be designed that would
be used in the first electronic computers. One of the elements of the success
of this effort was to reduce the electronic logic ‘‘truths’’ into two simple
electrical states.
These two electrical states are often represented as two numbers that can
be manipulated using ‘‘binary arithmetic.’’ Binary arithmetic was formally
described by the English mathematician George Boole in the middle of the
19th century and is often referred to as ‘‘Boolean arithmetic’’ or ‘‘Boolean
algebra’’ as a way to perform mathematical operations on numbers that only
have two values (‘‘0’’ or ‘‘1’’). These two values are manipulated within
electronic computers and other devices built from ‘‘digital electronics.’’
Over the past 60-plus years, digital logic circuits, processing binary
signals have been miniaturized, sped up and integrated together to create
the fantastic electronic gadgets that we take for granted. Despite their
complexity, they operate using the basic rules and circuits that are explained
in this book. After working through this book, not only will you understand
how these products are designed but you will also have some experience in
designing and working through the problems of implementing them on
your own.
This book was written for people that would like to learn about digital
electronics without taking a formal course. After working through this book,
along with a reasonably good understanding of the subject as well as some of
the background material needed to create electronic circuits, it can also serve
as a supplemental text in a classroom, tutored or home-schooling
environment. The book should also be useful for career changers who need
to refresh their knowledge in electronics and would like to better understand
what are the different facets of current digital electronic products.
This introductory work contains an abundance of practice quiz, test and
exam questions. They are all multiple-choice and are similar to the sorts of
questions used in standardized texts. There is a short quiz at the end of every
chapter. The quizzes are ‘‘open-book.’’ You may (and should) refer to the
chapter texts when taking them. When you think you’re ready, take the quiz,
write down the answers and then give your list of answers to a friend. Have
the friend tell you the score, but not which questions you got wrong. The
answers are listed in the back of the book. Stick with a chapter until you get
most of the answers correct.
This book is divided into two parts. At the end of each part is a multiple-
choice test. Take these tests when you’ve completed with the respective
sections and have taken all the chapter quizzes. The section tests are ‘‘closed-
book’’, but the questions are not as difficult as those in the quizzes. A
satisfactory score is three-quarters of the answers correct. Again, answers
are in the back of the book.
There is a final exam at the end of this course. It contains questions drawn
uniformly from all the chapters in the book. Take it when you have finished
both sections, both section tests and all of the chapter quizzes. A satisfactory
score is at least 75% correct answers.
With the section tests and the final exam, as with the quizzes, have a friend
tell you your score without letting you know which questions you missed.
That way, you will not subconsciously memorize the answers. You can check
to see where your knowledge is strong and where it is not.
I recommend that you complete one chapter a week. An hour or two daily
ought to be enough time for this. As part of this work, you should notice that
I have given a number of suggestions on how you could implement the
described circuits to see exactly how they work. When you’ve worked
through this material, you can use this book as a permanent reference.
in this book. After working through this book, not only will you understand
how these products are designed but you will also have some experience in
designing and working through the problems of implementing them on
your own.
This book was written for people that would like to learn about digital
electronics without taking a formal course. After working through this book,
along with a reasonably good understanding of the subject as well as some of
the background material needed to create electronic circuits, it can also serve
as a supplemental text in a classroom, tutored or home-schooling
environment. The book should also be useful for career changers who need
to refresh their knowledge in electronics and would like to better understand
what are the different facets of current digital electronic products.
This introductory work contains an abundance of practice quiz, test and
exam questions. They are all multiple-choice and are similar to the sorts of
questions used in standardized texts. There is a short quiz at the end of every
chapter. The quizzes are ‘‘open-book.’’ You may (and should) refer to the
chapter texts when taking them. When you think you’re ready, take the quiz,
write down the answers and then give your list of answers to a friend. Have
the friend tell you the score, but not which questions you got wrong. The
answers are listed in the back of the book. Stick with a chapter until you get
most of the answers correct.
This book is divided into two parts. At the end of each part is a multiple-
choice test. Take these tests when you’ve completed with the respective
sections and have taken all the chapter quizzes. The section tests are ‘‘closed-
book’’, but the questions are not as difficult as those in the quizzes. A
satisfactory score is three-quarters of the answers correct. Again, answers
are in the back of the book.
There is a final exam at the end of this course. It contains questions drawn
uniformly from all the chapters in the book. Take it when you have finished
both sections, both section tests and all of the chapter quizzes. A satisfactory
score is at least 75% correct answers.
With the section tests and the final exam, as with the quizzes, have a friend
tell you your score without letting you know which questions you missed.
That way, you will not subconsciously memorize the answers. You can check
to see where your knowledge is strong and where it is not.
I recommend that you complete one chapter a week. An hour or two daily
ought to be enough time for this. As part of this work, you should notice that
I have given a number of suggestions on how you could implement the
described circuits to see exactly how they work. When you’ve worked
through this material, you can use this book as a permanent reference.
Now, work hard, but be sure to have fun and look to see where you can
use the information provided here to help you to understand how the
complex electronic devices of modern society are implemented using digital
logic devices that are just capable of following simple rules of logic.
use the information provided here to help you to understand how the
complex electronic devices of modern society are implemented using digital
logic devices that are just capable of following simple rules of logic.
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