Video summary

Which Standard Books for GATE? || ECE/EE/IN || PrepFusion

Main summary

Key takeaways

Educational

Main ideas / lessons conveyed

  • Standard textbooks exist for each GATE-relevant subject, and they can be used for reference.
  • Reading entire standard textbooks cover-to-cover for GATE within the typical time available (about ~11 months) is unrealistic.
  • Many educators/aspirants claim they have “read” these books, but the speaker argues that GATE performance requires more than theoretical familiarity.
  • Textbooks are most useful in GATE prep when you use them to:
    • Fill gaps in weak topics
    • Practice solved examples to improve problem-solving
    • Build concepts only where needed (not start-to-finish reading)
  • GATE prep success depends on balancing three skills:
    1. Understanding concepts
    2. Applying concepts to specific problems
    3. Developing problem-solving speed, such as solving within ~3 minutes
  • Course educators add value by curating content:
    • combining lectures
    • textbook references
    • additional intuition/insight
    • then teaching GATE-focused material so students learn the right things for the exam
  • The speaker warns against performative “cool” textbook-following (e.g., posting pictures / claiming completion) without being able to solve GATE questions from that material.
  • Overall: textbooks (and even videos) may teach concepts, but exam-time application and technique usually require focused practice and/or courses.

Textbook list mentioned (subject-by-subject)

Note: Several author names/surnames are unclear due to subtitle cut-offs or spelling uncertainty in the source.

Common subjects

Digital / Logic / Computer design

  • Digital Logic and Computer Design — Maurice Mano
  • Digital Fundamentals — (speaker mentions “fluid engine”; author unclear)

Analog

  • Microelectronic Circuit Analysis and Design — Neiman (spelling likely “Neamen”)
  • Design of Analog MOS Integrated Circuits — Rajabi

Control Systems

  • Automatic Control Systems — Kuo
  • Modern Control Engineering — Ogata (spelled “Oata” in subtitles)

Signals and Systems

  • Two books:
    • … — openm (first author/keyword unclear)
    • One by Dr. Ganesh Daab (spelling uncertain)

Network Analysis

  • One book:
    • Fundamentals of Electrical Circuits — Alexander (surname unclear; subtitle suggests “Shahiku”)

EC core: Communication systems

  • Three books:
    1. Communication System Engineering — Progfirst (author unclear)
    2. Introduction to Analog and Digital Communication — Higgins
    3. Modern Digital and Analog Communication — BPRT (author unclear)

EMFT: Electromagnetics

  • Three books:
    • Principle of Electromagnetics — Sadiku
    • Field and Wave Electromagnetics — Cheng
    • Antenna Theory: Analysis and Design — Balanis

Electronic Devices

  • Two books:
    • Solid State Electronic Devices — Streetman (citation unclear in subtitles)
    • Semiconductor Physics and Devices — Neamen (subtitle spells “Nema”; likely the same author)

Electrical Machines

  • Three books/authors named (subtitles give partial names):
    • Stephen J. Chapman
    • P. S. Rao (subtitle shows “PSra”; full name unclear)
    • Nagrath & Kothari (likely Electrical Machines)

Power Electronics

  • Authors named:
    • Daniel Hart Williams (unclear exact reference from subtitles)
    • Robbins (likely the standard Power Electronics author; details unclear)

Power Systems

  • Authors named:
    • C. L. Wadhwa
    • Nagrath & Kothari (again mentioned)

Electrical Measurements

  • Subtitle indicates there are books for measurements, but author names are cut off/unclear.

Methodology / instructions given (how to use textbooks for GATE)

  • Do not read entire textbooks cover-to-cover for GATE (speaker claims it’s impossible within typical GATE timelines).
  • Use this approach:
    1. Start with GATE-focused lectures/courses for the subject (often 3–4 lectures/playlists).
    2. Consult textbooks only when you’re not comfortable with a topic.
    3. For weak areas:
      • Search the exact topic/chapter in a standard book.
      • Go to the solved examples for that topic.
      • Solve the examples.
      • If stuck:
        • Check solutions
        • Use them to rebuild concept understanding
    4. Repeat until your problem-solving improves (not just your concept reading).

“Done reading a book” (speaker’s strict standard)

You can claim you truly “read” the book only if you can:

  • solve all (solved/unsolved) examples
  • explain/teach the concepts from the book

The speaker claims almost nobody meets this bar.

Claims / arguments emphasized

  • People who say “I read Rajabi/other standard books” often:
    • don’t know how many chapters/topics those books contain,
    • can’t solve even simple GATE-level questions linked to those topics.
  • The speaker argues that even industry designers may keep books as references, but that doesn’t mean they read every book end-to-end.
  • Educators add value by:
    • selecting what matters for GATE
    • deriving intuition
    • framing explanations and practice suitable for exam conditions

Speakers / sources featured (as mentioned)

Speakers / narrator (implied)

  • Unnamed speaker: creator of the “PrepFusion” video (no personal name provided in subtitles)

Textbook authors mentioned

  • Maurice Mano
  • Neamen
  • Rajabi
  • Kuo
  • Ogata (spelled “Oata”)
  • Dr. Ganesh Daab
  • Alexander (surname unclear; “Shahiku” mentioned in subtitle)
  • Higgins
  • Sadiku
  • Cheng
  • Balanis
  • Streetman (spelling likely “Streetman”)
  • Stephen J. Chapman
  • C. L. Wadhwa
  • Nagrath & Kothari
  • Daniel Hart Williams (unclear exact reference)
  • Robbins
  • Additional sources with unclear author names from subtitles:
    • “fluid engine” (Digital Fundamentals)
    • “openm” (Signals & Systems)
    • “Progfirst” (Communication System Engineering)
    • “BPRT” (Modern Digital and Analog Communication)
    • “Neiman” and “Nema” may refer to the same person (Neamen) with inconsistent spelling in subtitles

Original video