Because of their intuitive layout, extensive mathematical capabilities, and convenient graphics, spreadsheets provide an easy, straightforward route to scientific computing. This textbook for undergraduate and entry-level graduate chemistry and chemical engineering students uses Excel, the most powerful available spreadsheet, to explore and solve problems in general and chemical data analysis. This is the only up-to-date text on the use of spreadsheets in chemistry. The book discusses topics including statistics, chemical equilibria, pH calculations, titrations, and instrumental methods such as chromatography, spectrometry, and electroanalysis. It contains many examples of data analysis, and uses spreadsheets for numerical simulations, and testing analytical procedures. It also treats modern data analysis methods such as linear and non-linear least squares in great detail, as well as methods based on Fourier transformation. The book shows how matrix methods can be powerful tools in data analysis, and how easily these are implemented on a spreadsheet and describes in detail how to simulate chemical kinetics on a spreadsheet. It also introduces the reader to the use of VBA, the macro language of Microsoft Office, which lets the user import higher-level computer programs into the spreadsheet.

‘It is a smoothly written, excellent tutorial about how such spreadsheets are created, and thus how you can create your own quite complex spreadsheets … a very good book. No analytical chemistry teacher, no serious analytical chemistry student, should fail to acquire this book.’

Roy W. Clark Source: Chem. Educator

‘… this book is a welcome addition to my shelves. It is not for the fainthearted, with many complex calculations examined, but that is how it should be, for the complexity comes not from the way it is written, but from the subject matter tackled.’

Pete Biggs Source: Chemistry and Industry

‘… the book has also made me reappraise the power of spreadsheets in allowing scientists to visualise complex numerical data. I would happily recommend it to those interested in applying mathematical methods to chemistry, but who perhaps lack full command of a programming language.’

Source: Chemistry in Britain

‘Spreadsheets are one of the most useful tools in scientific computing. The author has written a ‘how to’ book dealing with typical analytical chemistry calculations and using one of the most popular and widely available spreadsheet programs, Microsoft Excel. the range of topics covered is quite impressive and should meet the needs of most analytical chemists … It should also prove to be a valuable and useful supplement to courses in wet chemical or instrumental analysis.’

Terrence A. Lee - Royal Society of Chemistry

‘… a welcome addition …’.

Peter Biggs Source: Chemistry & Industry