Some questions get asked so much that it made sense to have them in a FAQ!
Where is Adafruit located?
Tell me more about Adafruit's background!
Check out this About Us page with video, all about Adafruit's glorious history!
Where do you get PCBs made?
Where's the cheapest place to get PCBs made?
Do you have recommended board houses?
For all the Adafruit kits, we use Advanced Circuits. They're more expensive than 'overseas' manufaturers but their quality is top notch and if you have to rework the board this is very important. We think our customers deserve the best!
For more info including hobbyist-friendly PCB makers, we have a great PCB tutorial with suggested companies & software etc so check it out!.
At MIT
Sadly, there isnt! Electrical engineering may be too hard to teach in book form. If there was a suggested book, we'd have it here!
That being said, the best way to learn electronics is build stuff! We have many tutorials and lots of examples of projects on this site with documentation. Start with a kit and move up to modifying it. Then you can take projects documented online and build them 'from scratch'. If you dont understand something, check wikipedia, google or forums. You'll slowly gain knowledge.
Note that EE is a practice as well as a discipline. You can't learn it just by reading, and you can't learn it just by doing. You have to do both!
Even then, it takes 3-5 years to get any real proficiency. It is also an expensive hobby, with a lot of equipment that gets accumulated and parts that get destroyed. So be prepared to have things broken by accident!
First, try to determine if you want to be an EE or just a hobbyist. Many people think they want to be an EE but what they really want to do is build stuff.
For example, lets say you want to build tree-houses (they're kinda neat!) Building a basic tree-house requires woodworking skills, and some architecture skills. But you shouldn't automatically assume you want to be an architect. You can build quite a few treehouses from plans without any architectural training! However, if you're very dedicated it may be that you want to design your own complex tree-houses. In that case, getting some formal training is a good idea.
So, likewise, if you want to build projects from plans with slight modifications, have fun with an Arduino, solder up kits, make cool halloween projects, etc. Getting an EE degree is a bit of overkill and very expensive! On the other hand, if you're interested in working for Apple designing the next iPhone, or you want to know why electronics is the way it is, then you'll almost certainly need a degree!
What classes can I take to improve my chances of getting into a good EE university?
How can I get into MIT?
What courses are important to learning electronics?
If you're in high school, take as much precalc (or calc!) as you can. If you can take CS classes, programming, or FIRST do those as well.
If you're already at school, start with calculus so you can take E&M physics with calculus ASAP.
Differential equations is next.
Then a basic 'circuits' class that covers stuff like KCL/KVL, circuit modeling with diffeq, linearity, op amps, resonance, etc. (ie. 6.002) They'll require the above.
Then find a class that will teach you frequency analysis and linear modeling: laplace/fourier transforms, control and bode plots. (like 6.003)
At the same time, try to find a "transistors" class, something that covers amplifiers, transistor modeling, etc. (like 6.301)
If you've mastered those important topics by end of second year, you'll have plenty of time to explore the branches of electrical engineering with confidence!