[R2K2D2]

Andy, have you taken Physics yet? Even in high school physics you go over some very basics and fundamentals of electronics and components. If you haven't I would suggest try to swing by a local university or community college bookstore or even your local library, if it's good, and see if they have physics textbooks you can buy/borrow. A very common physics text at the university level is Physics for Scientists and Engineers by Tipler. Another common book is Physics for Engineers by Halliday Resnick and Walker. You can also Amazon search these and purchase them for studying. The physics textbooks will give you some basic fundamentals and explain these, mathematically, in algebraic and introductory calculus concepts, so it should be easier to understand.

Once you go through those I would suggest looking at university/community college bookstores for an introductory electrical engineering circuits book. This will go into a lot of detail on not only the basic electrical components but also integrated circuits (ICs). It will start off probably explaining ICs with operational amplifiers. Be careful when looking at the college level texts because for some universities up through calculus 3 and differential equations can be a pre-requisite for some circuits classes. So, the mathematic descriptions can be very complex. But, I'd suggest getting a hold of some text books, start off at your local library.