The Secret Life of Circuits
The Secret Life of Circuits by Michał Zalewskiby Michał Zalewski
Hacker ApprovedThe most recommended of 12 electronics books
Readers recommend it as a friendly, conversational introduction to electronics and circuit intuition, though critics say its cover and title miss the target audience.
Readers recommend it as a friendly, conversational introduction to electronics and circuit intuition, though critics say its cover and title miss the target audience.
36 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 26
- criticize it
- 10
- approval share
- 72%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 26 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 2.6 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 4 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Friendly, conversational explanations
“reads more like someone kindly explaining stuff instead of sending diagrams and formulas your way”
Comment from 23 Oct 2026 in “The Secret Life of Circuits is now in stock everywhere” “seems to be a bit more approachable”
Comment from 19 Sep 2026 in “The Secret Life of Circuits” Good intro to electronics theory
“looks like it’ll be a good book for me to learn more about electrical theory and circuit design”
Comment from 19 Sep 2026 in “The Secret Life of Circuits” “SLOC as an overall introduction to give a good intuition”
Comment from 19 Sep 2026 in “The Secret Life of Circuits” “It’s great to finally see an explanation of a lot of things I’ve only seen experimentally.”
Comment from 23 Oct 2026 in “The Secret Life of Circuits is now in stock everywhere” Gift for young learners
“Reading the sample chapter makes me think this would be a good gift to a 10+ year old who is interested in learning about electronics.”
Comment from 23 Oct 2026 in “The Secret Life of Circuits is now in stock everywhere” “giving a copy to my niece and nephew this weekend”
Comment from 23 Oct 2026 in “The Secret Life of Circuits is now in stock everywhere” Thoughtful approach, well written
“I'm a fan of the book. Love the topic and the thoughtful approach!”
Comment from 20 Sep 2026 in “The Secret Life of Circuits” “it is incredibly well written”
Comment from 23 Oct 2026 in “The Secret Life of Circuits is now in stock everywhere”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Cover and title miss audience
“The content is pretty good but I think they missed the target audience pretty badly with that title and cover.”
Comment from 23 Oct 2026 in “The Secret Life of Circuits is now in stock everywhere” “The cover art and title give the impression of a children's book or a coffee-table book”
Comment from 23 Oct 2026 in “The Secret Life of Circuits is now in stock everywhere” “The cover art is a gross error of judgement”
Comment from 19 Sep 2026 in “The Secret Life of Circuits” Too simplistic, a wasted opportunity
“IMHO this is a wasted opportunity to write a solid book on the subject.”
Comment from 18 Jul 2026 in “Tech note: making your own V-I plots at home” “a wasted opportunity to write a solid book on the subject”
Comment from 18 Jul 2026 in “Tech note: making your own V-I plots at home” “much too simplistic to explain circuit theory and design”
Comment from 23 Oct 2026 in “The Secret Life of Circuits is now in stock everywhere” Fonts and layout look poor
“the fonts and layout are visually repulsive”
Comment from 16 Sep 2026 in “The Secret Life of Circuits” “visually it stood out to me as bad looking”
Comment from 19 Sep 2026 in “The Secret Life of Circuits”
Other electronics books people recommend
The four most recommended other electronics books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Secret Life of Circuitsby Michał ZalewskiThis page | 26 | 10 | 72% | 4 | — | Approved |
| The Art of Electronicsby Horowitz and Hill | 11 | 3 | 79% | 7 | — | Approved |
| PySDR: A Guide to SDR and DSP Using Pythonby Marc Lichtman | 8 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
| Getting Started in Electronicsby Forrest Mims | 5 | 1 | 83% | 4 | — | — |
| Practical Electronics for Inventorsby Scherz and Monk | 4 | 2 | 67% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
33 of the 39 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“enthusiasm does not cancel sloppy details”
“the book I wish I had earlier in life”
“much too simplistic to explain circuit theory and design”
“reads more like someone kindly explaining stuff instead of sending diagrams and formulas your way”
“Lots of other good stuff tho!”
“The cover art and title give the impression of a children's book or a coffee-table book”
“It’s great to finally see an explanation of a lot of things I’ve only seen experimentally.”
“I don't see a way that someone would put this into practice without an accompanying practice/lab book.”
“giving a copy to my niece and nephew this weekend”
“it is incredibly well written”
“The content is pretty good but I think they missed the target audience pretty badly with that title and cover.”
“Reading the sample chapter makes me think this would be a good gift to a 10+ year old who is interested in learning about electronics.”
“I still have no idea who this book is for.”
“I'm a fan of the book. Love the topic and the thoughtful approach!”
“looked at sample chapter ... and found nothing interesting”
“It's very lisible even if I prefer the text to be justified”
“visually it stood out to me as bad looking”
“Looks like a brilliant book.”
“The cover art is a gross error of judgement”
“This book looks like it’s targeted squarely at people like me!”
“it seems just like many of the books published by make magazine”
“looks like it’ll be a good book for me to learn more about electrical theory and circuit design”
“it's certainly not for absolute beginners. There is a huge delta between the target audience and the level of understanding”
“SLOC as an overall introduction to give a good intuition”
“This thing is a tome. And I like it like that.”
“seems to be a bit more approachable”
“this looks like so much fun”
“0% slop it made me pre-order the book immediately”
“Always enjoy reading the blog posts, and this seems like a great way to support work that gives me joy.”
“the fonts and layout are visually repulsive”
“a wasted opportunity to write a solid book on the subject”
“IMHO this is a wasted opportunity to write a solid book on the subject.”
“ToC is a bit rambling. Content sample isn't enough to judge the whole book.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.