Please suggest reading material for "Left Brainers"

[tsiros]

i do not know your age, but i don't think you are older than me, still, the advice is the same and take it as it is. Harsh? debatable. Insulting? most probably. Valuable? unarguable.

SIT YOUR *** DOWN AND LEARN MATH.

It's the SINGLE BEST advice anyone will give you.

if you think you can do ANYTHING without mathematics just set your computer on fire right now and throw it out the window

hell, even if you just want to PAINT stuff, you will STILL encounter geometry when you get to drawing with perspective!

[HiFi1972]

Thank you everybody for your suggestions (bookmarked this to look into your suggestions in the near future). I am currently reading Michael Geier's "How to Diagnose and Fix Everything Electronic" and am learning a lot about the basics (it's written in a very non-complicated way which I'm enjoying).

I honestly am looking to build/repair and maybe even customize some things and not necessarily design/improve circuits that are out there already, so I'm not too worried bout my lack of math skills (I'm primarily an audio engineer, which means I'm only good for making sonic decisions with gear that's already been developed; if I am able to maybe save some time by fixing a common problem without the need to send it out for repairs and losing a few days of work, I would be pleased!)

[DF96]

Originally Posted by tsiros

if you think you can do ANYTHING without mathematics

Lots of things can be done without mathematics: cooking, playing an instrument, being a good friend. It just happens that understanding science, especially physics and its applications such as electronics, isn't one of them.

Originally Posted by HiFi1972

fixing a common problem

You won't get far with fault fixing without some maths, unless you merely apply rules obtained from others. You might struggle with customisation too, as 'minor' changes fail to work but you won't know why.

[HiFi1972]

Okay then, I promise to not disregard math and put more thought into it. After all, it won't hurt the CPU (brain) to spend more energy understanding math!

[richie00boy]

The Student Manual is more of a kind of classroom lab/workshop book, you should find the thick plain Art of Electronics is easier to comprehend.

[DF96]

Originally Posted by HiFi1972

I promise to not disregard math and put more thought into it.

Take it one step at a time. If you struggle with maths, try to find applications which will motivate you. Some people enjoy abstract maths, but most need to be motivated by some useful purpose. For electronics Ohm's Law is a good place to start.

[sofaspud]

I honestly am looking to build/repair and maybe even customize some things

If you have any passion for the subject, you'll be fine. These days repair can be more taxing on a mind than design work. Memorize Ohm's Law, and make a "cheat sheet" of the other common electronics formulae and keep it handy.
One other book I have on my shelf that is written in a casual non-threatening way is Electrical Engineering 101 by Darren Ashby.

[CopperTop]

I think I know what you mean by "left brainer". People have amazing skills and aptitudes for certain things, and it leaves others wondering how, why and where they acquired them. For example, on paper I should be a computer-oriented sort of person, and I am, but only for using them directly as components in an overall hardware/software system. The 'IT' stuff simply leaves me cold. IP addresses, DNS gateways, DHCP, bridging adaptor, the difference between an ethernet switch and a router etc. My eyes glaze over, and I always have to get someone else to do it. But how did those people acquire that knowledge? Did they have a "passion" for it? It seems unlikely, given the ultimate tedium of the subject.

Similarly, their eyes glaze over when I describe how I'm going to use a computer programmed with a neural network to learn the best way to recognise and reject bad potatoes on a conveyor belt. Both skills involve computers, but the wiring of our respective brains is different.

And I think the divide between these different skills persists because the wiring of the brains leads to the entire 'infrastructure' surrounding a particular subject developing in a way that reflects that wiring. Mathematicians manipulate seemingly abstract symbols and, for all I know, never actually visualise what they mean in practice. Electronics engineers design with schematic diagrams, and IT engineers just love their acronyms and config files etc. without so much of the graphical stuff. If you suffer from a 'dyslexia' when it comes to these particular representations, it's an in-built barrier to making much headway in the subject.

However, if you know what it is you want to achieve, I find it is possible to 'dip into' other people's subjects once you get over your complete bafflement at how they acquired their knowledge. Their brains are wired differently from yours, and despite their apparent superhuman skills, it turns out that they have weaknesses too, although they never seem to mention that! As you have identified, part of the process is finding literature that was written by someone whose brain is wired with a bit of left and a bit and right, so they can bridge between the different worlds.

[tsiros]

Originally Posted by DF96

Lots of things can be done without mathematics: cooking, playing an instrument, being a good friend. It just happens that understanding science, especially physics and its applications such as electronics, isn't one of them.

i get your point, but only the last example doesn't involve mathematics (but it does involve simple arithmetic and i am not sure i could be a good friend with someone who doesn't think mathematics as something worthwhile.)
cooking involves weighing of foodstuffs, estimating ratios, calculating time of preparation... same, although to a lesser degree, with an instrument.

[DF96]

Originally Posted by tsiros

cooking involves weighing of foodstuffs, estimating ratios, calculating time of preparation

Not the way I cook! I just throw in ingredients until it looks right. Most of my closest friends are complete strangers to maths (apart from elementary arithmetic).