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And it makes the book look burly. For the price, we are very happy with the product. It had some minor cosmetic defects, but nothing that a layer of duct tape couldn't fix.
Who cares the what the metal composition is of a 16 penny nail.Everything is in there, But there is countless better places to find information faster. Outdated, hard to navigate ,5 inch thick book containing every electrical theory and mechanical table from the 1950's.Math never changes, so calculations are valid if you have forever to look through mountains of useless information and outdated examples.
It is not an exhaustive reference on any single subject but it is a great reference to give you an overview.One other observation- Amazon apparently ties the reviews to the book title and not the edition. Just because these are not part of modern wiring methods/systems does not mean that they have ceased to exist altogether.I have found this to be a great reference and have used it many times to resolve questions that I could find little or no information for anywhere else. This does make it a bit more tedious to look up a particular subject but it is certainly not impossible or unusable.As for some of the archaic information included- there are still two phase systems in existent, there are houses with knob & tube wiring, we still see 3 phase delta high leg systems, manual motor starters (the old "one arm bandits"), and so on.
This book is not intended to be a Code Reference/Guide and is more of a "how it works" reference. I have taught Journeyman prep classes and used Stallcups and the appropriate edition of the NEC exclusively. It is interesting to note that many of the reviewers have bashed this because they were attempting to use this as a study guide for a particular State's Electrician Exam.
Mike Holt's books are also good for exam preparation.As for the using the index it should be clear after only a cursory examination that it is indexed by section and not by page. The reviews here are for previous editions and do not specifically address the 15th edition.As for my background- I have been a master electrican for over 15 years, am a certified electrical inspector, certified instrument technician, and NETA certified testing technician. As noted there are much better study guides out there for testing purposes.
I highly recommend Stallcups Journeyman's workbook or the Master Electrician's workbook if you are wanting to pass the exam.
That said, the index is a nightmare, the book is not organized by page number, and it contains some apocrypha.I have been an electrician for just over two years now (and I wrote this using my wife's login, because I'm too lazy to relog) It is a very good book if your question runs along the lines of "Why does it work that way." Its treatment of Ohm's law and other fundamentals is particularly useful. This is an excellent, if dense read that bridges the gap between the science of electricity, and the practical matter of an Electrician's work. It will not fully explain the science of the topic, and it will certainly not teach you how to wire a house.
DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK. If all you are looking for is a study tool for the state certification test all you need is a code book. It cost $25 more but it is well worth it. I found it almost impossible to use the index, and the table of contents wasn't much help either.
I went through the union apprenticeship in San Francisco. My 8 and a half years of being a wireman (including 5 years as an apprentice)and I can't make sence of this book. Neither of these books will teach you how to be an electrician so don't even bark up that tree. I completed my apprenticeship in 2003, and decided to purchase this book to study for the CA state certification.
I do however reccomend the National Electrical Code 2005 Handbook. Don't waste your time or money again DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK. HUGE MISTAKE. In school we never used this book, and I went through a 5 year apprenticeship, and after looking through this book I can see why.
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