Excel Formulas and Functions For Dummies [Abridged] [Paperback]

Ken Bluttman (Author), Peter G. Aitken (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0764575562 | ISBN-13: 978-0764575563 | Publication Date: January 28, 2005 | Edition: 1

• Targets beginning to intermediate Excel users seeking real-world examples of how they can use Excel's powerful built-in functions
• Shows readers how to use Excel functions in formulas to help them decide between buying and leasing a car, calculate mortgage costs, compute grades, evaluate investment performance, figure college expenses, and more
• Gives explanations and examples of real-world situations
• Provides an abbreviated discussion of an additional 200 functions
• Excel commands nearly 90 percent of the market for spreadsheet applications; although this book is written for Excel 2003, the functions described are in earlier versions as well

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Use Excel functions to solve problems every day

Evaluate your investments, calculate credit card costs, predict expenses, and more

When you figure in the interest, just how much ARE you paying for that car? You may not want to know, but if you do, Excel has a formula and function for that — and over two hundred others. This book makes it easy to discover what they are, what they do, and how they can help you!

Discover how to:

• Save time with the Insert Function dialog
• Calculate loan payments and interest rates
• Understand array functions
• Correct formulas
• Use significance tests
• Work with date and time functions

About the Author

Ken Bluttman has been working as a software developer for 15 years. Ken specializes in VB/VBA based applications, often with an emphasis on Microsoft Office. Ken has written several articles on various computer topics including Office/VBA development, XML, SQL Server, and InfoPath. His most recent book is Developing Microsoft Office Solutions. Ken lives in New York with his wife, son, and dog.

Peter Aitken has been writing about computers and programming for over 10 years, with over 35 books well as hundreds of magazine and trade publication articles to his credit. His recent book titles include Powering Office 2003 With XML, Excel Programming Weekend Crash Course, .NET Graphics and Printing, Visual Basic .NET Programming With Peter Aitken, Office XP Development With VBA, XML the Microsoft Way, Windows Script Host, and Teach Yourself Visual Basic .NET Internet Programming in 21 Days.

Product Details

• Paperback: 408 pages
• Publisher: For Dummies; 1 edition (January 28, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764575562
• ISBN-13: 978-0764575563
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #522,408 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

54 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Really Helps at Work, April 12, 2005

By 

DR (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Excel Formulas and Functions For Dummies (Paperback)

I have to create a lot of Excel spreadsheets at work, and was always sort of intimidated by the functions in Excel. Instead of using functions, I spent a lot of time entering numbers and then finding the answer by hand, and just typing the answer in an empty cell. If any of the data changed, I would have to do all of the calculations over again, and hope that I didn't make any mistakes. This book explains each of the Excel functions in a really clear and easy to understand way, and walks you through how to use them step by step. I'm using more and more functions in my spreadsheets now. I don't have as many mistakes as before, because the functions do the calculations automatically, even when you change some of the data. I keep this book in my desk and look at it all the time. The people I work for have noticed the difference in the quality of my spreadsheets, and I'm getting a lot of complements. They're even coming to me to ask for advice! I definitely recommend this book if you use Excel at work.

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Really Helpful Book, March 30, 2005

By 

Andre De Vries (Seattle WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Excel Formulas and Functions For Dummies (Paperback)

I always found it hard to understand how functions work. It's one thing to use the autosum button to add some numbers together. It's another thing to use functions and know which one to use. But now this Excel book has come to my rescue. The book is well designed by explaining the basics first. Then the book is organized by categories of functions. I recommend it highly!

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book!, February 24, 2005

By 

Meg (Durham, NC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Excel Formulas and Functions For Dummies (Paperback)

I've been using Excel for years, including formulas, but this book really expanded my knowledge about Excel and all the built-in functions. I highly recommend this book!