# Getting Started in Electronics by Forrest Mims

5 Hacker News commenters recommended Getting Started in Electronics by Forrest Mims and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 4 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Recommended as an approachable first introduction to electronics, especially by hobbyists who grew up with Forrest Mims's books. Critics say the example schematics are hard to follow.

## Why people recommend it

- Beloved by hobbyists as an intro (2 comments): "I'm just a hobbyist that went through Forrest Mims mini-notebooks" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47189069)) "I loved the Forrest Mims books" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47141433))

## What people warn about

- Example schematics hard to understand (1 comments): "was intensely frustrated that I couldn't understand how the example schematics worked" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47489653))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [The Secret Life of Circuits by Michał Zalewski](https://hackerapproved.com/p/secret-life-of-circuits.md): 26 recommend
- [The Art of Electronics by Horowitz and Hill](https://hackerapproved.com/p/art-of-electronics.md): 11 recommend
- [PySDR: A Guide to SDR and DSP Using Python by Marc Lichtman](https://hackerapproved.com/p/pysdr-a-guide-to-sdr-and-dsp-using-python.md): 8 recommend
- [Practical Electronics for Inventors by Scherz and Monk](https://hackerapproved.com/p/practical-electronics-for-inventors.md): 4 recommend
- [Forrest Mims electronics books](https://hackerapproved.com/p/forrest-mims-electronics-books.md): 4 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Getting+Started+in+Electronics+by+Forrest+Mims&tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Getting Started in Electronics by Forrest Mims", https://hackerapproved.com/p/getting-started-in-electronics/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).