Page 20 - Analog Circuit Design Art, Science, and Personalities

Part One

Introduction

Most books have a single introduction. This one has four. Why?
Analog circuit design is a very “personalized” discipline. To be sure, everyone’s
bound by the same physics and mathematics, but there’s no single “right way” for
those tools to be applied to solve a problem. Practitioners of analog design are noted
for their individuality. Three of the four introductions that follow are by acknowl-
edged masters of the analog art and deal with analog’s place in a world that seems
overwhelmed by digital electronics. Each of those three authors gives a highly
personal viewpoint that can’t be objectively proven “right” or “wrong,” but that’s
the way it is in many aspects of analog design. The remaining introduction, which
appears first, doesn’t directly deal with analog electronics at all. However, it does
illustrate the “matrix of thought’‘ that so many successful analog designers bring to
their efforts.
Analog design is often less a colleclion of specific techniques and methods than it
is a way of looking at things. Dr. Calandra’s thoughts originally appeared in the
January, 1970 issue of “The Lightning Empiricist,” then published by Teledyne
Philbrick Nexus, and is reprinted by permission of Teledyne Corporation. We don’t
know if the student described ever became interested in analog electronics, but he
clearly had all the necessary attributes of a good analog design engineer.
The name of George Philbrick will be invoked several times in this book, and in
each instance some awe and reverence is noticeable. This is because if contemporary
analog design has a founding father, it would have to be George Philbrick. Many
of the top names in the field today either worked under or were influenced by him.
Although he passed away several years ago, his wisdom is still relevant to many
current situations. Here’s a sample from the October 1963 issue of “The Lightning
Empiricist,” published by the company he founded, Teledyne Philbrick. We’re
grateful for the company’s kind permission to reprint the following, since it’s
difficult to imagine a real guide to analog design without George Philbrick!
Let’s face it: analog electronics isn’t very sexy these days. The announcement
of a new microprocessor or high-capacity DRAM is what makes headlines in the
industry and business press; no one seems to care about new precision op amps or
voltage-to-frequency converters. Sometimes it seems if digital electronics is the
only place in electronics where anything’s going on. Not so, says Jim Williams, as
he tells why analog electronics is more than still important-it’s unavoidable.
Dan Sheingold’s essay originated as a letter to the editor of Electronic
Engineering Il-imes. In its original form (with a slightly different message); it
appeared on December 4: 1989. Often electronics engineers draw clear distinctions
between “analog electronics” and “digital electronics.” implying clear barriers
between the two disciplines that only the very brave (or very foolish) dare cross.
However, as Dan points out, the differences between them might not be quite what
we think.
Introductions are normally read before the rest of the book, and so should these.
But you might want to return and read them again after you’ve finished this book.
It’s likely that you might have a different reaction to them then than the one you’ll
have now.

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