Advanced Excel for Scientific Data Analysis

Excel is by far the most widely distributed data analysis software, but few users are aware of its full powers. This book takes off where most other books dealing with scientific applications of Excel end. It focuses on three areas: least squares, Fourier transformation, and digital simulation, and illustrates these with extensive examples, often taken from the literature. It also includes and describes a number of sample macros and functions to facilitate common data analysis tasks. These macros and functions are provided in uncompiled, computer-readable, easily modifiable form, and readers can therefore use them as starting points for making their own, personalized data analysis tools. The second edition of Advanced Excel addresses two recent developments. First, the new version of Excel, introduced at the beginning of 2007, has many more columns (16,384) than the present version (256), making it a much better environment for matrix operations, a staple of advanced mathematical methods in science and engineering, and a natural for a wide spreadsheet. The second edition includes a chapter explaining and illustrating matrix algebra in Excel. The second recent development is one outside Microsoft. An Italian engineer, Leonardo Volpi, has developed software with which Excel calculations can be made much more precise. With this freely downloadable tool, which de Levie has already used quite extensively, Excel can be made into a highly precise instrument, not only for scientific data analysis, but also for statistics, something it has not been in the past. This edition includes a new chapter on numerical methods (mostly devoted to working with matrices) and a new chapter on spreadsheet reliability (with emphasis on using Volpi's high-precision tools).