Microsoft@ Excel is a ‘number crunching’ application with the accountant as its primary target. However, it also provides the scientist or engineer with a very powerful computational tool. True, there are more sophisticated mathematical applications, such as Mathematica, MathCAD, Maple, etc., but none are as widely available as Microsoft Excel. Furthermore, the learning curve for Excel is very gentle; a little learning goes a long way! Once a few basic skills have been mastered, many spreadsheets may be developed in much the same way one would proceed with pencil, paper and calculator, but with more speed, higher precision and greater flexibility
