Head First Excel: A learner's guide to spreadsheets

Michael Milton

Mar 2010 · "O'Reilly Media, Inc."

About this ebook

Do you use Excel for simple lists, but get confused and frustrated when it comes to actually doing something useful with all that data? Stop tearing your hair out: Head First Excel helps you painlessly move from spreadsheet dabbler to savvy user.

Whether you're completely new to Excel or an experienced user looking to make the program work better for you, this book will help you incorporate Excel into every aspect of your workflow, from a scratch pad for data-based brainstorming to exploratory analysis with PivotTables, optimizing outcomes with Goal Seek, and presenting your conclusions with sophisticated data visualizations.

• Organize and clearly present information in a spreadsheet
• Make calculations across a number of worksheets
• Change your point of view with sorting, zooming, and filtering
• Manipulate numerical data to extract and use just what you need
• Leverage Excel as a grid-based layout program
• Write formulas for optimal functionality
• Nest formulas for more complex operations
• Create sophisticated data visualizations with charts and graphs
• Use Goal Seek to optimize possible outcomes based on different assumptions
• Create summaries from large data sets for exploratory data analysis with PivotTables

We think your time is too valuable to waste struggling with new concepts. Using the latest research in cognitive science and learning theory to craft a multi-sensory learning experience, Head First Excel uses a visually rich format designed for the way your brain works, rather than a text-heavy approach that will put you to sleep.

About the author

Michael Milton is the author of Head First Data Analysis. He has spent most of his career helping nonprofit organizations improve their fundraising by interpreting and acting on the data they collect from their donors. He has a degree in philosophy from New College of Florida and one in religious ethics from Yale University. He found reading Head First to be a revelation after spending years reading boring books filled with terribly important stuff and is grateful to have the opportunity to write an exciting book filled with terribly important stuff. When he's not in the library or the bookstore, you can find him running, taking pictures, and brewing beer.