Friday, February 28, 2014

Picking the right radar textbook for an introductory class

Stimson's Introduction to Airborne Radar


I'm glad to see a useful update to this classic from Scitech. They seem to take an active, positive role in technical publishing. I hope SciTech has updated the instructional infrastructure as well. I was working at Hughes when the original came out and bought a copy through the employee purchase. We joked that it was the "Classics Illustrated" version of radar textbooks. While airborne radar is a major part of the subject, there are many other areas of the technology which need to be covered.

I've been teaching a radar class using Skolnik's Introduction to Radar Systems 3rd edition, and it is obviously in need of an update. McGraw Hill had zero in the way of instructor support, and had even lost the problem solution set. They had no plans for an update. I'm considering switching texts to Richards "Principles of Modern Radar: Basic Principles", published by Scitech as well, as painful as that might be, for its improved technical coverage, matlab supplements, and enhanced instructional resources.

2 comments:

Steven said...

Hi Stephen

Thanks for your comment. Can you suggest a good book for today's Sales Engineers in the RF and Microwave field.

Something good to stick with the change in Technology or do we stick to the basics

Regards Steven

Stephen Pendergast said...

Stimson is probably best for non-math treatment. Richards is best for treatment of modern Radar topics. Skolnik is the classic, but is becoming a bit dated.