Many experimental microcontroller boards are available for purchase. However, none seem to be as popular with nonelectronics hobbyists as the Arduino board. The main reason for its popularity is probably its openness. The Arduino hardware reference designs are distributed under a creative commons license, and the source code for the integrated development environment (IDE) is released under a free software license. This has caused a lively and creative online community to flourish. Several introductory texts are available already [1,2,3], but to me this book is the most accessible to Arduino beginners.

In 50 small projects, the author takes the layman step by step through installing, programming, and enhancing the Arduino board. At the end of each project, the board should be able to control some self-wired hardware. The book starts very gently. The first 80 pages (or ten projects) are limited to the control of light emitting diodes (LEDs). The focus here, and in the remainder of the book, is clearly on the software rather than on hardware aspects. No soldering is required, and no electric circuits need to be analyzed or designed. From chapter 4 on, new hardware elements (sounders, sensors, motors, displays, shift-registers, and so on) are introduced, up to and including ultrasonic range finders, radio frequency identification (RFID) readers, and Ethernet connectors. For each project, the required hardware parts are listed, the circuit layout is displayed, and a complete and commented computer program is listed and further explained in the text. Despite the abundance of small projects, the book is not a smorgasbord of trivial concepts. Instead, each little project adds something more to the knowledge and experience gained with previous projects. In the end, the reader should have enough confidence to try one of the more advanced projects described on the Web or in Arduino books for intermediate users.

The style is precise and to the point; the author avoids the discursive and jovial talk of other do-it-yourself type books. The illustrations and explanations of the program code are helpful. If you want to get your feet wet with physical computing, this book is the right one to start with.