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The engineer's bookshelf: A new reference on power supply design

Over the course of their careers engineers are likely to acquire a personal library of reference books that represent a compendium of professional knowledge. The books that are widely collected - the 'classics' - are generally practical, definitive and authoritative; they are characterized by straight-forward exposition accompanied by illustrative examples and clear, simple diagrams. They also serve as a record of developments in the field

The cornerstone of such a library for an EE could well be Frederick Terman's 1932 tome, Radio Engineering. Many an engineer was weaned on Terman, who went on to be recognized as the father of Silicon Valley, counting among his illustrious proteges one William Hewlett. Paul Gray's Electronic Principles: Physics, Models, Circuits and Oppenheim and Schaffer's Discrete-Time Signal Processing are also likely to be found among the classics. Op amps, data conversion, active/passive filters, control systems and other electrical engineering subjects have numerous, hotly debated contenders for the status of ultimate references.

Now, add to the list, The "Fundamentals of Power Supply Design", written by Bob Mammano, a pioneer in the power supply industry, recognized as the 'father of the PWM controller.' Recently published by Texas Instruments, where Bob was Staff Technologist for many years, The Fundamentals of Power Supply Design draws upon material developed for TI's seminars on power supply design. It starts with the basics, delves into history and then addresses advanced topics such as topology selection, magnetics design and minimizing EMI.

It's got all the hallmarks of a future classic.