Thursday , March 28 2024
This is a very good book in which almost anyone will gain a better understanding to how electricity powers our lives.

Manga Review: The Manga Guide To Electricity by Kazuhiro Fujitaki and TREND-PRO Co., Ltd.

Electricity is all around us. It powers our homes, our toys, and in some cases, even our cars. It produces light, heat, and power. We seldom think about electricity, and most of the time we don’t even know where it comes from. To get a clearer picture of how electricity works, you only have to learn some basic fundamentals.

In The Manga Guide To Electricity, you will learn fundamental electrical concepts through a story told using manga illustrations. This is not complicated stuff. You just follow along with the story, and you will learn the concepts as does the heroine. At the end of each chapter is some text that goes into more detail than what is contained in the story. The book is 232 pages long and is divided into five chapters.

The premise of The Manga Guide To Electricity is that Rereko — an average high school girl from the Electopia, the land of electricity — has failed her final electricity exam and now has to take summer school to relearn it to pass the class. Her tutor, Hikaru, helps her to understand the fundamentals of electricity.

Chapter One, “What is Electricity?,” begins with the basic concepts of electricity and shows what voltage, amps, and watts are and how they relate together. It describes the relationship between power plants and the way electricity is distributed to your home. You will also learn of the concepts of electrons and protons and how they flow within a wire. The chapter finishes up with some non-manga text covering more specific details than could be covered by the story.

Chapter Two, “What are Electric Circuits?,” looks at specific devices and how they are wired. It begins with items like the light switch in your home and how a flashlight works. You will learn about alternating current and direct current and how they differ, as well as what Ohm’s Law is and how it relates to circuits. The chapter also describes series and parallel circuits and how they differ and then finishes with more text covering these concepts more in detail.

Chapter Three, “How Does Electricity Work?,” examines why electricity produces heat and how heat is generated by a current. Concepts introduced are the Joule, infrared rays, inductance, and magnetic fields. The text pages look in detail at the Joule, thermal heat, electromagnetic waves, and magnetism.

Chapter Four, “How Do You Create Electricity?,” starts off by looking at generators and the way they create electricity. Then it moves on to batteries and other sources of power. These sources include chemical cells, water and fuel cells, as well as dry batteries. You will even learn how to create a coin battery on your own. The text portion discusses thermal power generation, nuclear power, hydroelectric, and wind power generation.

Chapter Five, “How Can You Conveniently Use Electricity?,” looks at how people use electricity and how some consumer electronic products work. Here you will see what a semiconductor is and how they are put together. You will examine diodes and transistors and the way they are used to create everything from Christmas tree lights to large outdoor displays. The text finishes up with additional topics like converters and inverters, sensors, and optical sensors.

There is a lot to like about The Manga Guide To Electricity. First and foremost is that it makes learning about electricity fun. It assumes that you have no real background in the subject, but by the end will give you a solid basic understanding of electrical theory. It also provides a good understanding of how electricity works from a larger perspective as well.

Because electricity is so important to our lives, and because it is something that is not really taught in schools except to a very small percentage of students, I think this is a very good book in which almost anyone will gain a better understanding to how electricity powers our lives. For this reason, I say The Manga Guide To Electricity is a must read.

About T. Michael Testi

Photographer, writer, software engineer, educator, and maker of fine images.

Check Also

The PAX East 2024 Experience

PAX East is a terrific and inclusive home for gamers. With so much to see and do, this roundup gives an idea of what the experience is like.