Fundamentals of Vacuum Tubes

It has been the author's intent in writing "Fundamentals of Vacuum Tubes" to combine in a single text the basic theory underlying the operation of all types of modern vacuum tubes, both radio and industrial, together with their more common applications. In so doing an effort has been made to avoid either writing a text that is almost purely descriptive or presenting such a wealth of mathematical material as to make the work unattractive to a large group of potential readers who desire only a basic working knowledge of vacuum tubes. Although books going to either extreme are unquestionably valuable to certain groups, it is the author's belief that these needs are already well supplied with excellent texts. A knowledge of the basic laws of direct and alternating currents is assumed together with mathematics up to and including the simple calculus. However, the use of the calculus is such that anyone unfamiliar with this branch of mathematics may still follow the essential points presented in this text. This book deals with the laws governing the operation of the vacuum tube itself instead of presenting a large number of circuits in which the tube may be used. Consequently circuits have been selected and described only for the purpose of illustrating the operation of the tube and no attempt has been made to present a complete discussion of such individual applications as television, radio broadcasting, etc., although many footnotes are provided giving reference to more extensive treatises on the various circuits. It is believed that this method of treatment will enable the reader to obtain a thorough grounding in vacuum-tube fundamentals with a minimum expenditure of effort and will provide a groundwork from which he can readily familiarize himself with the details of any special application.