Chris is authoring the fifth edition of Practical Electronics for Inventors, due 2028. The Book Community runs alongside the writing: early access to the video course Chris is building in parallel — same material as the book, different format — plus a voice in what makes it into the next edition. You don’t need to own the book to join, and you don’t need to join to read the book.
Get notified about new editions, errata sheets, and supplement material.
Early access to the video course Chris is building in parallel with the new edition — same material, different format. A small group watching the course take shape and helping decide what makes it into the book.
Two audiences with the same membership.
Short-term: anyone who wants the course material that pairs with the book — at $1/mo it’s a much lower bar than the full CE Apprentice membership.
Long-term: anyone who wants a voice in what goes into the 5th edition — topics covered, examples chosen, the order chapters are taught.
No — $1/mo gets you in standalone. If you’re already a CE Apprentice or Master member, you have access automatically; you don’t need to pay separately.
And the inverse: you can read Practical Electronics for Inventors without ever joining the Book Community. The book stands alone.
No. The book is sold separately by McGraw-Hill when it ships. The Book Community gives you early access to the video course Chris is making alongside it — same material as the book, different format.
The two run in parallel: feedback on the videos shapes what goes in the book, and finishing the videos finishes the course. So the Book Community ends up with the full video course, and the book covers the same ground in print.
The CE courses are project-based — you design, build, and debug real boards (Getting to Blinky, Current Sink or Swim, and so on). The Book Community is built around the video course Chris is developing — theory and reference content, in video form — with the 5th edition of Practical Electronics for Inventors being written in parallel.
Many people end up on both. You don’t have to.
You do not get a copy of the book itself, and you do not get the CE project courses (Getting to Blinky, etc.) — those are part of CE Apprentice.
No. The 5th edition is targeted for 2028, so the conversation will be active through then. Lurk, comment occasionally, or get deeply involved — entirely your call. There are no deadlines and no required reading.
We ask members to chip in a token amount — a small way of saying you actually want to be part of this. And when the course stops being valuable to you, we hope you stop paying.
