The Spreadsheet at 25

March 2005

The ultimate gift book for geeks!

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The Spreadsheet at 25 - The Evolution of the Invention that Changed the World

"25 Cool Excel Downloads!"

Back in 1978, an MIT student dreamt of a futuristic calculator. His invention had a fighter-pilot heads up display and a mouseball on the bottom of the calculator where you could scroll back through any entry and change a prior number to have all future calculations update.

That student was Dan Bricklin. Working with Bob Frankston in a Cambridge attic, the pair brought the invention to life as VisiCalc for the Apple ][e on OCtober 23, 1979. This application literally changed everything. VisiCalc gave businesses a reason to invest $1000+ for a personal computer.

This book takes a look back at the 25 year history of spreadsheets.

Chapter 1 - Meet the Players

Chapter one covers the history of spreadsheets. From August DeMorgan in the 1800's to Richard Mattesich in the 1960's, through Bricklin, Frankston, Mitch Kapor and Pito Salas. Read about the rise and fall of VisiCalc, the rise and fall of Lotus 1-2-3, and the rise of Excel.

Chapter 2 - 25 Wonders of the Spreadsheet World

Chapter two covers the 25 most amazing features of spreadsheets. If you are not careful, you might actually learn some new features in Excel from this chapter.

Chapter 3 - Cool Things that People Do with Excel

Excel isn't just for accountants. People use Excel for infinite applications around the world. Learn about some of the crazy uses for Excel. Meet people who use Excel for wedding planning, quilt design, and dozens more.

Chapter 4 - 25 Cool things that YOU can do with Excel

25 useful applications that you can download and try in your copy of Excel. Includes cool utilities for home and work. There is something here for everyone. You can learn a lot just by studying how the spreadsheets were built. I invited all of my Excel guru friends to contribute an application. You will find spreadsheets from:

• Colo
• Mark Clulow
• P.K. Hari
• Gerry Verschuuren
• Ravi Singh
• Ivan F. Moala
• Juan Pablo Gonzalez
• Julio Ahumada
• Mark Rowlinson
• Zack Barresse
• Jacob Hildebrand
• Brian Mulder
• Duane Aubin