Product Description: 54 super-entertaining projects offer insights into the sights, sounds, and smells of nature
Nature meets the Evil Genius via 54 fun, safe, and inexpensive projects that allow you to explore the fascinating and often mysterious world of natural phenomena using your own home-built sensors. Each project includes a list of materials, sources for parts, schematics, and lots of clear, well-illustrated instructions.
Projects include: rain detector, air pressure sensor, cloud chamber, lightning detector, electronic gas sniffer, seismograph, radiation detector, and more
An Inspiring Manual Also great reference for the rest of us. As a robotics enthusiast, I found the subject of this manual to be of intense interest. After receiving the book, I was further amazed by the inspiring variety and depth of the coverage of the subject matter. MacGyver would have loved this book! For best results, I would recommend that reader has at least a basic knowledge in electronics. Whether your intention is to give 5 senses to your robotics project, build your own weather station, or build a paranormal detection device, you're well on your way with this compilation.
Nice collection of sensor projects Interesting collection of projects that require more than a simple trip to the Radio Shack to build. Each project has considerable scientific background information not just an electrical schematic and parts list. Many of the projects would make worthwhile science fair projects or other amateur science pursuits.
Good hobbyist book on sensors I own several books by the author, and like his other books, this one is focused on construction details and how each particular circuit works, along with datasheets, as opposed to theory. So if you are looking for the theory of operation on individual sensors, I think you will be disappointed. However, if you are just looking for interesting projects to build, this book is full of good ideas for circuits. The projects range from the more simple and inexpensive, such as the overtemperature alarm, to the more complex and costly advanced electronic ion chamber. If you want a good book on sensors and the theory behind them you might try Fraden's recent edition of "Handbook of Modern Sensors". I notice that Amazon does not show the table of contents so I do that here: Chapter 1: Audio Projects Electronic stethoscope Underwater hydrophone Ultrasonic listener Chapter 2: Light Detection & Measurement Opto Listener Basic radiometer Digital ultraviolet radiometer Digital ozone-meter Sensitive optical tachometer Chapter 3: Heat Sensing Infrared flame detector Freeze alarm Over-temperature alarm Analog data-logger system LCD thermometer Infrared motion detector Chapter 4: Fluid Sensing Rain detector Fluid sensor Fluid/water level indicator Humidity monitor pH meter Chapter 5: Gas Sensing Air pressure switch Electronic sniffer Combustible gas sensor Electronic barometer Chapter 6: Vibration Monitoring Vibration hour monitor Vibration alarm Piezo seismic alarm Research seismograph Chapter 7: Magnetic Detection Mag-Ear amplifier ELF monitor Electronic compass Earth field magnetometer Chapter 8: Sensing Electric Fields Electroscope Static tube Simple electronic electroscope Atmospheric electricity monitor Cloud charge monitor Chapter 9: Radio Projects Lightning detector ELF natural radio Shortwave receiver Jupiter radio telescope Chapter 10: Radiation Detection Cloud chamber Low cost electronic ion chamber I Advanced electronic ion chamber II Geiger Counter Appendix A: Helpful Contact Information Appendix B: Data Sheets
And I thought Electronic Projects Were Dead Back many, many years ago, when the earth was flat and the sun went around the earth, I built a whole series of crystal radios. It seemed to me that something was lost when everything electronic became a chip and nearly everything you could imagine was made in Japan.
Now all of a sudden comes along this book. No, alas, there's not a crystal radio in it, but there's a short wave radio that's made with three chips. The complexity of the circuits is about the same as the old crystal sets. And the thrill of listening to WWV tell you the time as to be about the same as listening to the local radio station on the crystal set the first time.
There are quite a number of projects suitable for science fairs and the like. Come to think of it, building one of those electronic compasses from page 178 might be a good project even for an old kid of my advanced age.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Trevor
