Excel Scientific and Engineering Cookbook (Cookbooks (O'Reilly)) [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

It is often either inconvenient or financially unfeasible to solve every mathematical problem with a standalone procedural language or an expensive application such as Matlab or Mathematica. Since Excel has such advanced computational capabilities built into it and is ubiquitous in offices and homes, it would make sense to mine this application for numerical problem solving techniques. Bourg does a masterful job of presenting the tools available in Excel and showing the reader how to put them to work to solve real world engineering and mathematical problems. First, he spends a couple of chapters briefly going over Excel and its language VBA (Visual Basic for Applications). Next he goes over some intermediate level tasks such as collecting and cleaning up data, charting including 3D charts, and statistical analysis tasks such as correlating data and generating random numbers. Next Bourg moves into purely mathematical tasks such as working with discrete Fourier transforms, manipulating matrices and vectors, as well as working with basic mathematical functions. Once you have learned to use these mathematical tools in Excel, Bourg uses them to show you how to perform curve fitting and regression, solve equations, perform integration and differentiation, and solve both ordinary and partial differential equations. He even spends time on performing multivariable calculus and the finite element method in Excel. Chapter 13, on optimization, was my favorite chapter. Here, Bourg is actually getting into a little algorithm analysis and design via linear programming and genetic algorithms. This chapter showed me some truly innovative uses of Excel. The final chapter deviates from the scientific flavor of the book and concentrates on more traditional financial applications.
The writing is very accessible, the examples are clear and very creative, and the author does a tremendous job of capturing the range of Excel's mathematical capabilities. Do not expect mathematical theory in this book. Bourg assumes you already know how to set up a mathematical problem and that you just need a computational platform and tools with which to perform your work. It is nice to know I am not necessarily held hostage by Mathworks(maker of Matlab) every time I need to solve a mathematical problem of any level of sophistication. Highly recommended. The table of contents is as follows:
1. Using Excel
2. Getting Acquainted with Visual Basic for Applications
3. Collecting and Cleaning Up Data
4. Charting
5. Statistical Analysis
6. Time Series Analysis
7. Mathematical Functions
8. Curve Fitting and Regression
9. Solving Equations
10. Numerical Integration and Differentiation
11. Solving Ordinary Differential Equations
12. Solving Partial Differential Equations
13. Performing Optimization Analyses in Excel
14. Introduction to Financial Calculations

Wow what a great Cookbook!!!

No, I mean no sarcasm here at all. With all the books in O'Reilly's "Cookbooks" line, I find that it's really hit or miss. Sometimes the books are good, sometimes great, sometimes it's a big whiff.

Not here folks.

I can say without question that the 'Excel Scientific and Engineering Cookbook' by David Bourg is the BEST line in the Cookbook series I have read thus far. Neatly compact at just over 400 pages and full of actual, useful tips and tricks throughout, this is must read for anyone that uses the mathematical side of Excel and wants to learn how to take their car into the next gear!!

Covering graphs, charts, mathematical calculations, formula creation... you name it, it's here and then some!!

After reading this book you will be amazed at all the things you can do in Excel and I have little doubt that you will learn something new and ENJOY doing it while you take a bite out of this great manual!!

***** HIGHEST POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATION

I am very surprised that there are only 2 reviews here. This is a must have book for all engineering students. The book totally leverage all of excel powers commingled with vba. While other vba books talk about loops and looping, this book did that in just one chapter. The other chapters talk about all what engineering students want: solving and writing codes for non-linear equation (a must for solving for z factor in thermo), numerical differentiation, numerical integration, differential equations, partial differential equations, statistical analysis and valuable things about excel. Combined this book with any standard vba text, and you are set. Kudos to David Bourg.