1. Chapter 1 Using Excel

   1. Introduction

   2. Navigating the Interface

   3. Entering Data

   4. Setting Cell Data Types

   5. Selecting More Than a Single Cell

   6. Entering Formulas

   7. Exploring the R1C1 Cell Reference Style

   8. Referring to More Than a Single Cell

   9. Understanding Operator Precedence

   10. Using Exponents in Formulas

   11. Exploring Functions

   12. Formatting Your Spreadsheets

   13. Defining Custom Format Styles

   14. Leveraging Copy, Cut, Paste, and Paste Special

   15. Using Cell Names (Like Programming Variables)

   16. Validating Data

   17. Taking Advantage of Macros

   18. Adding Comments and Equation Notes

   19. Getting Help

2. Chapter 2 Getting Acquainted with Visual Basic for Applications

   1. Introduction

   2. Navigating the VBA Editor

   3. Writing Functions and Subroutines

   4. Working with Data Types

   5. Defining Variables

   6. Defining Constants

   7. Using Arrays

   8. Commenting Code

   9. Spanning Long Statements over Multiple Lines

   10. Using Conditional Statements

   11. Using Loops

   12. Debugging VBA Code

   13. Exploring VBA's Built-in Functions

   14. Exploring Excel Objects

   15. Creating Your Own Objects in VBA

   16. VBA Help

3. Chapter 3 Collecting and Cleaning Up Data

   1. Introduction

   2. Importing Data from Text Files

   3. Importing Data from Delimited Text Files

   4. Importing Data Using Drag-and-Drop

   5. Importing Data from Access Databases

   6. Importing Data from Web Pages

   7. Parsing Data

   8. Removing Weird Characters from Imported Text

   9. Converting Units

   10. Sorting Data

   11. Filtering Data

   12. Looking Up Values in Tables

   13. Retrieving Data from XML Files

4. Chapter 4 Charting

   1. Introduction

   2. Creating Simple Charts

   3. Exploring Chart Styles

   4. Formatting Charts

   5. Customizing Chart Axes

   6. Setting Log or Semilog Scales

   7. Using Multiple Axes

   8. Changing the Type of an Existing Chart

   9. Combining Chart Types

   10. Building 3D Surface Plots

   11. Preparing Contour Plots

   12. Annotating Charts

   13. Saving Custom Chart Types

   14. Copying Charts to Word

   15. Displaying Error Bars

5. Chapter 5 Statistical Analysis

   1. Introduction

   2. Computing Summary Statistics

   3. Plotting Frequency Distributions

   4. Calculating Confidence Intervals

   5. Correlating Data

   6. Ranking and Percentiles

   7. Performing Statistical Tests

   8. Conducting ANOVA

   9. Generating Random Numbers

   10. Sampling Data

6. Chapter 6 Time Series Analysis

   1. Introduction

   2. Plotting Time Series Data

   3. Adding Trendlines

   4. Computing Moving Averages

   5. Smoothing Data Using Weighted Averages

   6. Centering Data

   7. Detrending a Time Series

   8. Estimating Seasonal Indices

   9. Deseasonalization of a Time Series

   10. Forecasting

   11. Applying Discrete Fourier Transforms

7. Chapter 7 Mathematical Functions

   1. Introduction

   2. Using Summation Functions

   3. Delving into Division

   4. Mastering Multiplication

   5. Exploring Exponential and Logarithmic Functions

   6. Using Trigonometry Functions

   7. Seeing Signs

   8. Getting to the Root of Things

   9. Rounding and Truncating Numbers

   10. Converting Between Number Systems

   11. Manipulating Matrices

   12. Building Support for Vectors

   13. Using Spreadsheet Functions in VBA Code

   14. Dealing with Complex Numbers

8. Chapter 8 Curve Fitting and Regression

   1. Introduction

   2. Performing Linear Curve Fitting Using Excel Charts

   3. Constructing Your Own Linear Fit Using Spreadsheet Functions

   4. Using a Single Spreadsheet Function for Linear Curve Fitting

   5. Performing Multiple Linear Regression

   6. Generating Nonlinear Curve Fits Using Excel Charts

   7. Fitting Nonlinear Curves Using Solver

   8. Assessing Goodness of Fit

   9. Computing Confidence Intervals

9. Chapter 9 Solving Equations

   1. Introduction

   2. Finding Roots Graphically

   3. Solving Nonlinear Equations Iteratively

   4. Automating Tedious Problems with VBA

   5. Solving Linear Systems

   6. Tackling Nonlinear Systems of Equations

   7. Using Classical Methods for Solving Equations

10. Chapter 10 Numerical Integration and Differentiation

    1. Introduction

    2. Integrating a Definite Integral

    3. Implementing the Trapezoidal Rule in VBA

    4. Computing the Center of an Area Using Numerical Integration

    5. Calculating the Second Moment of an Area

    6. Dealing with Double Integrals

    7. Numerical Differentiation

11. Chapter 11 Solving Ordinary Differential Equations

    1. Introduction

    2. Solving First-Order Initial Value Problems

    3. Applying the Runge-Kutta Method to Second-Order Initial Value Problems

    4. Tackling Coupled Equations

    5. Shooting Boundary Value Problems

12. Chapter 12 Solving Partial Differential Equations

    1. Introduction

    2. Leveraging Excel to Directly Solve Finite Difference Equations

    3. Recruiting Solver to Iteratively Solve Finite Difference Equations

    4. Solving Initial Value Problems

    5. Using Excel to Help Solve Problems Formulated Using the Finite Element Method

13. Chapter 13 Performing Optimization Analyses in Excel

    1. Introduction

    2. Using Excel for Traditional Linear Programming

    3. Exploring Resource Allocation Optimization Problems

    4. Getting More Realistic Results with Integer Constraints

    5. Tackling Troublesome Problems

    6. Optimizing Engineering Design Problems

    7. Understanding Solver Reports

    8. Programming a Genetic Algorithm for Optimization

14. Chapter 14 Introduction to Financial Calculations

    1. Introduction

    2. Computing Present Value

    3. Calculating Future Value

    4. Figuring Out Required Rate of Return

    5. Doubling Your Money

    6. Determining Monthly Payments

    7. Considering Cash Flow Alternatives

    8. Achieving a Certain Future Value

    9. Assessing Net Present Worth

    10. Estimating Rate of Return

    11. Solving Inverse Problems

    12. Figuring a Break-Even Point

1. Colophon

The animal on the cover of the Excel Scientific and Engineering Cookbook is a common genet (Genetta vulgaris or Genetta genetta), also known as a true or small-spotted genet. (The taxonomy of the genus is controversial, with several similar species and numerous proposed subspecies, reflecting many geographic and habitat-specific variations.) The animal's name is pronounced with a soft "g" and rhymes with "Senate," in contrast to the homographic surname of the French novelist and playwright of the theater of the absurd.

Related to but distinct from true cats, genets are members of the civet or viverrid family (Viverridae), which also includes the mongoose. The viverrids are generally regarded as the closest living descendants of the extinct common ancestor of the carnivores. The oldest genet fossils, found in Morocco, date back to the Pliocene. Genets were kept as pets by the ancient Egyptians and as rat catchers in Europe until they were eventually replaced by house cats (depictions of domesticated genets can be seen on European tapestries from the Middle Ages).

Common genets are distributed throughout southern Europe, parts of the Middle East, North Africa, and the savanna south of the Sahara. They prefer low altitudes but live in diverse habitats, including pine forests, olive groves, rocky areas, and scrublands. Genets are considered arboreal, but they also spend a large amount of time on the ground and are partial to streambanks. They are agile climbers, with semiretractable claws and an extremely flexible body that can squeeze through any opening large enough to admit the head. They are primarily solitary; genets of opposite sexes may share overlapping territory, but those of the same sex will not. They are mostly nocturnal, resting during the day in thickets and hollow trees. Genets do most of their hunting on the ground and, like cats, they hunt by stealth, crouching low to the ground and killing prey with a quick bite on the neck.

The genet is an opportunistic carnivore; its main prey are small mammals, but it rounds out its diet according to seasonal availability with birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, insects, and fruits. Genets use their sense of smell for both hunting and communication; they convey social, mating, and territorial messages via secretions from several scent glands (although these are not as highly developed as those of civets, whose perineal glands have long played a role in the making of perfume and the unusual processing of Indonesian coffee beans called kopi luwak). Both sexes use flank and hind-leg rubbing to distribute olfactory cues, in addition to marking with perineal secretions (common among females) and urine (more popular with males).

Genets have five vocalizations: a hiccup (used primarily by mothers to call the litter, and by males during the mating period); a purr (used only during the first week of life); a mew (used by the young while still dependent); a growl (used by the young once their predatory behavior is fully developed); and a click (used by adults in aggressive interactions). In offensive stance, the dorsal fur bristles and the genet arches its back, opens its mouth, and bares its teeth.

The cover image is from Lydekker's Royal Natural History. The text font is Linotype Birka; the heading font is Adobe Myriad Condensed; and the code font is LucasFont's TheSans Mono Condensed.