Signals and Systems Made Ridiculously Simple

Rating:
Summary: Did I pay for someone's notebook???
Review: I bought this book expecting it to make Linear Systems easier to understand.

I also bought Schaum's Outline of Signals and Systems and got more out of that than SS Made Ridiculously Simple.

SSMRS has almost no sample problems (solved at least), it's someone's notebook just made prettier.

Schaum's, OTOH - was written by a former professor at my university. It contains hundreds (maybe thousands) of problems with detailed solutions, ALONG with easy to use equations and tables. I.e. network equations for resistors, capacitors, and inductors in Laplace transform.

I can see how one would pay for a notebook, but SSMRS isn't worth it. I don't see how its getting such good reviews from everyone - it's even more worthless than Oppenheim's Signals and Systems.

From this reviewer's perspective, Schaum's Outline of Signals and Systems can pretty much hold its own as a textbook if used by an instructor that knows his or her "stuff."

So I'll have to give this book only 2 stars, for being vague with problems and for making things look too simple. In a way, the author didn't lie - he made the subject of Signals and Systems simple. Unfortunately, it is TOO simple to use for College Level signals and systems if you have a bad textbook to start with.

My recommendation: save your money and get the Schaum's Outline.

Rating:
Summary: This is a waste of time and money
Review: I would not call this a book, but rather a pamphlet on communication theory. For starters the book has only 100 pages, many of which are blank. For example chapter 1 is only 2 pages. Chapter 2 (continuous time systems) is only 3 pages. 1 of those pages is a huge diagram. Page 6 is entirely blank.

To be honest I found nothing useful in this book and the title is very misleading. I found myself forced to reference other texts while flipping through this book.

My biggest complaint with this book is its major lack of examples. You would suspect a book with this title would really spell things out for you. Instead the examples, of which there is about 1 per chapter, are quite complex. For instance in the frequency domain chapter, the example begins with v(t)=Re{40exp(j80)exp(-5+8j)t}. Then the author continues to solve for a RLC cct using eigenfunction theory??, uses the S-plane (Laplace) which has not even been introduced yet, does complex number manipulation, and presents the answer again using Re{} notation. I don't know about you, but this is not ridiculously simple, especially considering that it is the first example in the book AND the only example in the 3 whole pages of chapter 3

Rating:
Summary: This is a waste of time and money
Review: I've taken 3 control systems/ signals and systems type courses now, 2 in mechanical engineering and 1 in electrical engineering at MIT. People have tried to teach me Bode plots and whatnot before and I could follow them, but when it came to tests or applying it at a job, I had maybe a 50% chance of getting it right. I was basically making educated guesses.

Near the end of the 3rd course I decided to get this book. It's clear and explicit on how to do things. More importantly, it makes clear what is important and what isn't. I find that professors who have taught for years and years too often forget what's important and what needs to be stressed for the students to do well and to understand. This book clarifies those issues along with giving explicit instructions on how to understand and solve problems.

Definitely get this book if there's any chance you might use signals and systems in the future.

Rating:
Summary: The only way to learn signals and systems
Review: This book is the only thing that got me through Signals and Systems. While most text books get bogged down in the mathematics, this book clearly and concisely explained the logic behind working through the problems.

Every MIT student who takes Signals and Systems buys this book. I can't think of a better recommendation.

Rating:
Summary: Wish I had this as an undergrad.
Review: This is a terrific supplement to the typical cryptic signals texts (e.g. Oppenheim). Presents this material in an intuitive manner as a good teacher should.

If you take a signals course and are not lucky enough to have a good teacher and all you have is Oppenheim to learn from it can be tough! This book can really help out.

Rating:
Summary: finally, a clear concise intro to signals
Review: This is the best book I have found which gives you the best explanation. If you really want to understand how it works this is a must have. This is a quote from the book page 70 : "it is important to maintain an intuitive understanding, otherwise, you will likely just get buried in mathematical details and will fail to understand its practical applications". I couldn't agree more.

Rating:
Summary: My secret weapon!
Review: While I agree that "SSMRS has almost no sample problems" - that's not the point of this book. If you want a bunch of extra homework problems, Schaum's is great. However, if you want the material explained the way a good tutor would, get this book! This book contains all of the fundamental concepts of a one or two semester signal processing and linear systems course. Time and time again I found myself wondering why ... my "required" textbook just didn't explain it this way!

Aside from all of the necessary equations, tables, etc, the book even has a **VERY** helpful Appendix to refresh your memory on imaginary numbers, trigonometry, linear circuit equations, etc. For some reason professors assume everyone remembers this stuff!

Basically, I can't imagine having survived my class without this book! As for the price, it's still much cheaper than other textbooks, and frankly, how much is your time, lack of aggravation, and at least for me, better grades worth? This book will serve you well, both while taking a course as well as a great, concise, handy reference in the future.