Howdy
I’m new, both to the boards and electronics tinkering. I studied some electronics / electrical machines and power at university as part of a mech eng degree, so naturally I know next to nothing about electronics 
However, I really want to learn and get cracking on some projects! I am a 30 something bored mechie who wants to branch out and make fun stuff.
How far can you realistically get with tinkering before you need to hit the books and really understand electronic engineering? Follow up question, do you really need formal education / text books, or is learning by doing, or some combination of the above the best?
Lord knows I spent 4 years at university learning theory, but without really applying it (OK we did some breadboard stuff and a bit of soldering) it doesn’t become a skill. I am a little leery of going back to Thevenins, Nortons, Kirchoffs, Left hand and right hand rules etc, but I guess if I am learning it as part of a project that would make it way more absorbing.
What’s your views on it? What are the best ways (apart from obvious youtube, physics sites etc) to get hold of this stuff? Recommended books or authors? Maybe even apps that teach more “hands on” than pages of equations?