By Keith Gurnett
Reed Electronics Research
Newnes Butterworth-Heinemann
308 pages
£75.00

Apologies to the author, but this surface-mount technology handbook has no new information, and it is overpriced for what information you do get. If Reed Electronics Research wanted to get involved with technical manuals, why did they not use the expertise of the workshop leaders at NEPCON West and NEPCON Asia? The talent is at their fingertips, but it was not used to its full advantage.

There are some good sections, but many current technologies are not included. The number of color ads is surprising, especially when photographs illustrating technical content are printed in black and white. Over 50 pages are filled with a supplier directory.

There are still many companies that have not adopted surface-mount components into their designs; so there is always room for another textbook to support the introduction of this technology. However, there are better and cheaper books available. Try Soldering in Electronic Assembly from the same publisher.