MEDIA RESPONSE

Robert E. King (May, 2005)

Almost thirty years ago and during my educational leave from my university on the USA, I visited a research center in Greece, where I had been invited to introduce a course in "Circuit Theory" in ASPETE. I was impressed by a group of students who were inspired every day and I was very satisfied to see that they had a strong demand for more information. In such situations the teacher is thrilled and his sometimes stiff task is a source of satisfaction. In discussions I had with other teachers, I remember predicting that some of those students will shine. One of those students was Thanassis Giokas.
Thanassis Giokas, tutor in technological education and with great experience now, devoted himself to gathering data and specifications of the materials of electronic components, publishing the first volume of his project “Electronic components and materials textbook” in 1997 by Papasotiriou publications. Recently he published the second volume (Stamoulis Publications, 2004) which completed his study for the materials of electronic components and fill a great gap in Greek bibliography.
The first three chapters of the second volume describe thoroughly the ferrites and their attributes, the piezoelectric ceramics and the piezoelectric crystals. The fourth chapter looks through the materials of transformers and their design. In these chapters theory, codes and a wealth of other useful information for every material is demonstrated; information you could hardly find in a book worldwide.
The fifth and last chapter, extending in 150 pages, you will find the attributes of many sensors and is the most interesting chapter of the book. There is no such collection of information in any other book in Greece. There also are mentioned things about actuators, a topic I think it will be developed farther in the next volume. The last chapter could excellently be the core of a separate book concerning sensors and actuators, two things of particular interest in Industrial Automation.
This textbook is useful to students of third degree of education in Greece (universities and technological institutions) and of the technical education. It also addresses to members of production. I must congratulate the author for his significant contribution and his hard work digging out data and specifications that led him to this book which covers a great gap in Greek technical bibliography.

Robert E. King (Link )
Professor, University of Patras
Μay, 2005

"Technical Selection" (N.453, October 2004)

The “Electronic components and materials textbook” is a very important and remarkable attempt, in the area of specialized publications, in electronics technology, which aspires to enlighten topics which have been unexplored and hazy.
Seven years after the issue of the first volume, the second volume of the book “Electronic components and materials textbook” by author Thanassis Giokas and Ath. Stamoulis publications, was recently introduced, which completes the project concerning passive components, as they are referred to in Electronics. The importance of passive components is critical in Electronics, as their turnover exceeds 90% of the corresponding active ones.
The first volume of the textbook, containing five chapters, treats topics regarding materials, resistors, capacitors, coils, RC-LC networks, suppressors, EMI/RFI ceramic and SAW filters and resonators. The second volume contains also five chapters and an appendix and describes characteristic attributes of passive components available in the market.
In more detail, the 6th chapter studies the ferrites and their attributes and more specifically their types and construction materials; it also looks at self-inductance and special ferrites. There is a very interesting part about the calculation of self-inductance with ferrite core. In the 7th chapter the piezoelectric ceramics are presented and we can learn their general attributes, their elements and their applications in dimorphic and uniform elements. The 8th chapter is devoted to piezoelectric crystals and shows the ways of cutting them, the equivalent circuit, the parameters, the attributes and the operation and usage codes. The 9th chapter is an examination of the transformers. There is a comprehensive description of the single-phase equivalent circuits, as well as the types, the operation, the connections and the applications of current or line transformers, the composite resistor transformers and the voltage transformers. We will also see information about auto-transformers of general and special applications, which we often found in various electronic systems. The 10th chapter is a thorough examination of sensors, transducers and actuators (over 60 of these components), enhanced with many operational structure and usage characteristics. This chapter provides the reader with attributes of an extended set of components which can not be found elsewhere. Every text in the book is accompanied with diagrams, pictures, figures and tables which help to better understand its topics.
“Electronic components and materials textbook” is undoubtedly a complete knowledge pool in its sector and addresses to students and professionals of Electronics. This edition responds to the needs of the university community and of the market.
Thanassis Giokas, the author of this textbook, works in the technical education and collaborates with the department of Electronics in the Technological Institution of Piraeus.

Vlassis Amanatidis (Link )

“Strategy” (September, 2005)

The second volume is appearing seven years after the publication of the first volume (Papasotiriou Publications) and is fulfilling the project of Mr. Giokas concerning passive components used either on passive or in active sensors.
The chapters of the first volume were referring in materials, resistors, capacitors, coils, RC-LC networks, suppressors, EMI-RFI filters, ceramics and SAW filters and transducers.
The second volume is even more interesting for those who occupy themselves with defensive technology, comprising with chapters about ferrites, piezoelectric ceramics, piezoelectric crystals, transformers and actuators. Some characteristic applications about the ferrites are the phasic radars and the piezoelectric devices and the transducers are used in sonars. This volume, as well as the first one, are not addressed to a general audience, however, they can be a useful tool for professionals working on defensive technology.

"DEFENCE MATTERS" (January, 2005)

The publishing of this volume is a necessity due to the modern electronics technology which has penetrated not only in our everyday life but also to the manufacturing and operation of modern arm systems.
The book resolves very specialized topics, which up to now have been unexplored and hazy. It is a warm project, demonstrating many modern topics, such as sensors, transducers and actuators. It is a distinguished book, addressed to a specialized audience.