Excel Scientific and Engineering Cookbook
by David M. Bourg
Book Review by Charlene Brown
ome of the fancier tricks (or ‘recipes’ as Excel Scientific and Engineering Cookbook presents them) require the installation of Excel ‘add-ins’ such as the Analysis ToolPak. However, there are dozens of powerful functions built right into Excel—and probably just about never accessed by most users—and this book does a good job of describing and explaining the remarkable range of analyses that can be performed with these built-in functions too.
Excel’s built-in data visualization capabilities are also well illustrated with a wide-ranging collection of examples of use of the Drawing toolbar and the Chart menu. These include solutions to differential equations, finding the roots of polynomials using graphs, assessing ‘goodness of fit’ of regression equations or trend lines, ‘deseasonalizing’ time series, contour plotting and elevation maps, linear programming solutions to product mix optimization problems, as well as quick visualization of surface plots and other 3D integration results—an impressive diversity not normally associated with Excel.
And speaking of diversity—my first impression of the book had been that it was going to try to cover way too many areas of expertise. But I soon realized that the analytical tools and procedures covered often have practical application in many fields. Indeed, instances of overlaps and combinations of expertise are beneficial all round, and are probably increasing.
One of the book’s many examples of the inter-disciplinary application of methodology is the new—to me, anyway—use of genetic algorithms to develop an alternative approach to “constrained optimization”. Complete with ‘survival of the fittest’ evolutionary underpinnings and random “gene mutations”, this optimization procedure is described as “a little theory and a lot of voodoo”, and it works when traditional methods just don’t cut it!
Finally, Excel Scientific and Engineering Cookbook acknowledges what Excel is famous for. There is a 14-page section covering some of its more adventurous capabilities in the area of financial analysis.
Scientists and engineers will find this book an excellent guide to the problem-solving and information-visualization capabilities of Excel. In fact, anyone—including students—required to report concisely on research data and results would find this book useful.
by David M. Bourg
Publisher: O'Reilly
CAN $62.99
425 pages
ISBN: 0-596-00879-1
