The fields of Electromagnetics (EM) and RF engineering often carry an austere and impenetrable reputation, whispered about in hushed tones as being akin to “black magic.” Eldon Gordon, a seasoned Professional Engineer (PE), politely but firmly demolishes this myth in his book, Electromagnetics—It’s Not Black Magic. This work is an essential attending text for anyone who relies on wireless communication, high-speed digital design, or signal integrity—from the ambitious beginner to the experienced digital professional looking to lay hold of the fundamental truths that govern their signals. Gordon’s goal is to inspire concentration and greatly simplify the EM world, proving that the principles are simple, logical, and entirely within the grasp of the prepared mind.
📘 The Rigorous Preload of Understanding: Beyond Formal Education
The book’s introduction acts as a necessary preload, acknowledging that formal EM education often focuses on complex math (like solving Maxwell’s equations) without linking the concepts to tangible, real-world results. Gordon specifically addresses those topics that engineers normally find difficult to fully grasp, thus offering immediate, practical value. This is not a theoretical rank climb, but a functional guide for practical delivery.
The Simple Backbone: Parameters and Concentration
Gordon starts by defining the simple “backbone parameters” of EM—Energy, Power, and Work—before progressing to the more complex concepts of radiation and propagation.
- Key Insight (Radiation): He dedicates crucial space to explaining the process by which electrons create current, and how current respectively generates radiation. Understanding this mechanism is the greatest barrier to demystifying antennas and wave propagation, and the author uses clear logic to shear away the unnecessary mathematical complexity.
- The Objective of Chaste EM: The text continually refers the reader back to the objective: managing the invisible energy transfer through space. This consistent tempo of practical application ensures the learning isn’t dissipately lost in abstract formulas.
Vie: The focus on practical application and demystification of complex physics is linked thematically to classic texts aiming for conceptual clarity, such as Richard Feynman’s Six Easy Pieces (a simplified look at core physics concepts), offering a welcome austere counterpoint to traditionally rigorous EM textbooks.
🧭 New Types of Tools: Polarization and Directivity Rates
One of the most unique and valuable sections of Gordon’s work is the introduction of his own original, simplified procedures for solving traditionally complex EM problems. These innovations alone provide a massive aggregate of utility for intermediate and advanced readers.
Case Study: The Cartesian/Poincaré Sphere
Dealing with wave polarization is notoriously difficult, as it often requires the use of spherical coordinate equations. Gordon introduces a breakthrough by showing how to use Cartesian coordinates with the Poincaré sphere graphic.
- Actionable Tip (Simplified Polarization): This new method provides equations that are much simpler to calculate and use. The resulting graphic representation is incredibly intuitive, helping the reader to visualize how wave polarization works—a greatly needed attending to a subject that often feels theoretical and confusing. This knowledge allows the professional to better choose and position antenna types for optimum delivery and minimal afterload signal loss.
Case Study: Antenna Directivity Formula
The book also presents a new, easily remembered formula to estimate the directivity of an antenna.
- Actionable Tip (Antenna Rates): Accurate directivity estimation is vital for system designers. Gordon’s formula is not only simple but, according to the author, more accurate than others normally found in the literature. This allows digital professionals working in wireless systems to quickly pluck the required gain and beamwidth rates for a system’s delivery path, moving rapidly from design preload to practical results.
🛡️ Practical Delivery: Managing Signal Integrity and Colerrate
The concentration on practical phenomena—how EM travels and interacts with objects, especially antennas and dielectrics—makes this book an essential step-by-step resource for high-speed hardware and firmware engineers. The focus is on achieving colerrate performance by managing wave interactions.
Checklist: Achieving EM Chasteness (EMC)
For the digital professional, the afterload of EM interference (EMI) is often the most expensive and time-consuming part of a project. Gordon’s text helps mitigate this by providing the rigorous yet simple principles behind electromagnetic compatibility (EMC).
- Shielding: Understanding the fundamental types of shielding (reflection, absorption) is the first line of defense.
- Grounding: The book stresses the importance of a chaste, effective grounding plane, explaining why a ground isn’t just a place for current to dissipately flow, but a critical return path for the signal—a foundational concept many refer to incorrectly.
- Impedance Matching: Ensuring signals flow smoothly without unnecessary reflections (the energy afterload) is essential for high-speed tempo.
Act upon the knowledge gained here to reduce development time and prevent costly certification failures, which are the real-world results of treating EM as “black magic.”
🚀 Conclusion: Seize the Wave, Pluck the Power
Electromagnetics—It’s Not Black Magic is a great work that fills a critical void between theoretical academic texts and highly specialized industry manuals. Eldon Gordon has succeeded in his simple but ambitious goal: to educate, simplify, and empower the reader to seize control of the invisible forces around them. The key takeaway is that the mysteries of waves and fields are logical, manageable, and crucial to modern technology. This book provides the actionable tips and the conceptual preload needed to turn baffling phenomena into predictable, quantifiable results.
If you’re tired of seeing EMI issues as random bad luck, it’s time to act upon this knowledge and elevate your professional rank. You’ll find yourself greatly more capable when faced with the rigorous design challenges of the modern digital landscape.
❓ FAQs: Referring to Common EM Questions
Q1: Is this book suitable for someone with no background in EM? A: Yes, while it gets into advanced topics, the early sections are dedicated to establishing a simple, conceptual foundation. It requires concentration, but Eldon politely guides the reader, avoiding the heavy mathematical preload of a typical textbook.
Q2: What is the biggest mistake beginners make in EM? A: The greatest mistake is viewing EM phenomena dissipately rather than as an interconnected system. The book helps the reader lay hold of the idea that everything—from the power source to the antenna delivery—is linked, making it a unified system.
Q3: Does the book cover Maxwell’s equations? A: It refers to the underlying principles and results of Maxwell’s equations but keeps the concentration on the simple, conceptual understanding of wave behavior and its practical types, rather than requiring the reader to perform the rigorous mathematical derivations. The focus is on the effect, not just the equation.