This text presents a comprehensive treatment of signal processing and linear systems suitable for undergraduate students in electrical engineering, It is based on Lathi's widely used book, Linear Systems and Signals, with additional applications to communications, controls, and filtering as well as new chapters on analog and digital filters and digital signal processing.This volume's organization is different from the earlier book. Here, the Laplace transform follows Fourier, rather than the reverse; continuous-time and discrete-time systems are treated sequentially, rather than interwoven. Additionally, the text contains enough material in discrete-time systems to be used not only for a traditional course in signals and systems but also for an introductory course in digital signal processing. In Signal Processing and Linear Systems Lathi emphasizes the physical appreciation of concepts rather than the mere mathematical manipulation of symbols. Avoiding the tendency to treat engineering as a branch of applied mathematics, he uses mathematics not so much to prove an axiomatic theory as to enhance physical and intuitive understanding of concepts. Wherever possible, theoretical results are supported by carefully chosen examples and analogies, allowing students to intuitively discover meaning for themselves.
Lathi's writing is extremely clear and, at times, funny. I loved some of the historical background he added, especially concerning Heaviside. He begins with a very helpful review of partial fraction expansion and linear algebra, two mathematical domains one needs to be facile in to absorb the remainder of the book. The book then covers a lot of ground. One could look at the book as divided into two major sections: I-Continuous-Time (Chapters 1-7) signals and systems, development of continuous Fourier/Laplace, sampling, analog filters (pole-zero placement, Butterworth, Chebyshev, etc.), and control systems. II-Discrete-Time (Chapters 8-13) Fourier, z-transform, digital filters, and space-state analysis). It's a wonderful resource for developing a mental throughline for the relationship between signals/systems, digital signal processing, and controls.