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What are the best antenna design textbooks?

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The standard antenna textbooks are Balanis, Antenna Theory: Analysis and Design;[1] Stutzman and Thiele, Antenna Theory and Design;[2] and Kraus and Marhefka, Antennas for All Applications.[3] The Antenna Engineering Handbook is the broad professional reference,[4] and IEEE Std 145 defines the terminology.[5]

Which general textbooks should you read?

TopicBook
Phased arraysMailloux;[8] Hansen[9]
Microstrip antennasGarg, Bhartia, Bahl and Ittipiboon[10]
Small antennasFujimoto and Morishita;[11] Hansen[12]
Horns and feedsOlver et al.[13]
Dielectric resonator antennasPetosa[14]
RadomesKozakoff[15]
UWBSchantz[16]
Numerical methodsHarrington;[17] Taflove and Hagness;[18] Jin[19]
Practical HF/VHFThe ARRL Antenna Book[20]

Which standards should every antenna engineer know?

IEEE Std 145 for definitions of terms[5] and IEEE Std 149 for measurement practice;[21] ITU-R P-series recommendations for propagation;[22] and the regulatory texts for target markets, such as 47 CFR Part 15 in the US.[23]

Frequently asked questions

Is Balanis or Stutzman better for beginners?

Both work; Stutzman is often considered more approachable, Balanis more comprehensive.

Are older books still useful?

Yes; classics such as Silver’s Microwave Antenna Theory and Design remain valuable for aperture theory.

Is there a free reference?

Vendor application notes and open-source solver documentation are useful free resources alongside textbooks.

References

Online sources accessed October 21, 2026; printed works cited by edition. See all sources.

  1. “Antenna Theory: Analysis and Design, 4th ed.”. C. A. Balanis, Wiley. 2016.
  2. “Antenna Theory and Design, 3rd ed.”. W. L. Stutzman and G. A. Thiele, Wiley. 2012.
  3. “Antennas for All Applications, 3rd ed.”. J. D. Kraus and R. J. Marhefka, McGraw-Hill. 2002.
  4. “Antenna Engineering Handbook, 4th ed.”. J. L. Volakis (ed.), McGraw-Hill. 2007.
  5. “IEEE Standard for Definitions of Terms for Antennas (IEEE Std 145-2013)”. IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society. 2014.
  6. “Antennas and Radiowave Propagation”. R. E. Collin, McGraw-Hill. 1985.
  7. “Foundations of Antenna Engineering: A Unified Approach for Line-of-Sight and Multipath”. P.-S. Kildal, Artech House. 2015.
  8. “Phased Array Antenna Handbook, 3rd ed.”. R. J. Mailloux, Artech House. 2017.
  9. “Phased Array Antennas, 2nd ed.”. R. C. Hansen, Wiley. 2009.
  10. “Microstrip Antenna Design Handbook”. R. Garg, P. Bhartia, I. Bahl and A. Ittipiboon, Artech House. 2001.
  11. “Modern Small Antennas”. K. Fujimoto and H. Morishita, Cambridge University Press. 2013.
  12. “Electrically Small, Superdirective, and Superconducting Antennas”. R. C. Hansen, Wiley. 2006.
  13. “Microwave Horns and Feeds”. A. D. Olver, P. J. B. Clarricoats, A. A. Kishk and L. Shafai, IEE/IEEE Press. 1994.
  14. “Dielectric Resonator Antenna Handbook”. A. Petosa, Artech House. 2007.
  15. “Analysis of Radome-Enclosed Antennas, 2nd ed.”. D. J. Kozakoff, Artech House. 2010.
  16. “The Art and Science of Ultrawideband Antennas”. H. G. Schantz, Artech House. 2005.
  17. “Field Computation by Moment Methods”. R. F. Harrington, Macmillan (IEEE Press reprint 1993). 1968.
  18. “Computational Electrodynamics: The Finite-Difference Time-Domain Method, 3rd ed.”. A. Taflove and S. C. Hagness, Artech House. 2005.
  19. “The Finite Element Method in Electromagnetics, 3rd ed.”. J.-M. Jin, Wiley. 2014.
  20. “The ARRL Antenna Book for Radio Communications”. ARRL. multiple editions.
  21. “IEEE Recommended Practice for Antenna Measurements (IEEE Std 149-2021)”. IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society. 2022.
  22. “Recommendation ITU-R P.525: Calculation of free-space attenuation”. ITU-R. current edition.
  23. “47 CFR Part 15 — Radio Frequency Devices”. U.S. Federal Communications Commission, eCFR. current text.
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