Rezensionen
Rezensionen
P.C.T. van der Laan
Electromagnetic Fields in Electrical Engineering
Understanding Basic Concepts
Rezension
The subtitle of this little book is "Understanding basic concepts". Piet van der Laan has only recently retired from the Technical University of Eindhoven where he was professor of Electrical Engineering, with an emphasis on high voltage power engineering and, consequently, an unavoidable interest in EMC. This book tackles the basics of electromagnetic field theory, from the perspective that "too much mathematics in field theory has - unfortunately - convinced many people that circuit theory is more practical and relevant."
Van der Laan does not denigrate circuit theory; by contrasting Maxwell and Kirchhoff, he merely shows that it is in fact derived from the more universal field theory. The mathematics is not absent, but neither is it overwhelming, and it is clearly and profusely illustrated with many diagrams. The various aspects of electromagnetic fields are concisely covered and put into context with what electrical and electronic engineers are more familiar with - components, wires, motors and structures. He is not above a little whimsy; having calculated as an example the capacitance of the Earth as 708µF, he says "notice how inconveniently large a Farad is; even our Sun with a radius of 696000 km has only a capacitance of 77.4 mF". As an aid to understanding the physical basis of, well, the whole of electrical and electronic engineering, this book is invaluable.
