Several inexpensive paperbacks cover the use of the SPICE circuit simulation program and its PC version PSPICE.

Tuinenga’s book is a third edition and contains 15 chapters and four appendices. The author details the additions to previous versions of the book, which are, in essence, chapters14 and 15, on Monte Carlo methods and sensitivity analysis, respectively.

The general structure of the book follows well-trodden paths: DC and AC analysis, transfer functions, frequency response, feedback, transient response, distortion, and device modeling.

Appendix A shows a detailed worked example analysis of a single-stage, common emitter, AC coupled amplifier. Such details are usually omitted in the main text. AppendicesB and C are brief summaries of PSPICE statements and devices, and Appendix D discusses the new control shell of PSPICE, which is a typical GUI application. Selected references appear in the text, and the index is good.

The writing is lively and the example problems will challenge students, so the book is suitable as a classroom text. One possible problem, which I was unable to check, is the applicability of the “free” PSPICE software to which the book directs attention. With other books that indicate the same source, I have found that the software was crippled to such an extent that some examples could not be run.