The discipline of antenna theory has experienced vast technological changes. In response, Constantine Balanis has updated his classic text, Antenna Theory , offering the most recent look at all the necessary topics. New material includes smart antennas and fractal antennas, along with the latest applications in wireless communications. Multimedia material on an accompanying CD presents PowerPoint viewgraphs of lecture notes, interactive review questions, Java animations and applets, and MATLAB features. Like the previous editions, Antenna Theory, Third Edition meets the needs of electrical engineering and physics students at the senior undergraduate and beginning graduate levels, and those of practicing engineers as well. It is a benchmark text for mastering the latest theory in the subject, and for better understanding the technological applications. An Instructor's Manual presenting detailed solutions to all the problems in the book is available from the Wiley editorial department.
I have read countless books on the subject of antenna theory and design, and quite frankly, have found few that are particularly useful to someone practicing in this field. It seems most texts were written for the purpose of teaching first principles and the physics associated with basic electromagnetics, and less so on practical application. Its no wonder we keep hearing antenna design referred to as a 'black art'. Professor Balanis' book does do better on the design side than most other texts on this topic, save the work of David Pozar (see review). Still, a must have for the antenna engineer's library.