My canonical answer to this question for the last 2 decades+ has been The Radio Amateur's Handbook. It will take you from zero to basic electronics with a healthy dose of radio theory and it is eminently approachable. I haven't read an edition in years, so I don't know how much it's changed. My recommendation would be the pre 1995 editions. Usually easy to find at libraries, but not these days...
Or some other similar book from Jim Williams. It's not as much about electronics as it is about the engineers who came up with interesting ideas and designs.
Which brings up another idea: google Analog Devices Analog Dialog. They put out this newsletter for like 50 years and it pretty much tells the history of precision analog design.
Yeah, I'm paid to program, but I'm still an old school analog circuit design pretender at heart :-)
I think I also have this book https://www.amazon.com/Analog-Circuit-Design-Personalities-E...
Or some other similar book from Jim Williams. It's not as much about electronics as it is about the engineers who came up with interesting ideas and designs.
Which brings up another idea: google Analog Devices Analog Dialog. They put out this newsletter for like 50 years and it pretty much tells the history of precision analog design.
Yeah, I'm paid to program, but I'm still an old school analog circuit design pretender at heart :-)