180 J . Chem. Inf. Comput. Sci., Vol. 33, No. I , 1993
BOOK REVIEWS
BOOK REVIEWS The Excel Spreadsheetfor Engineers and Scientists. By Irvin H. Kral. Prentice Hall: Englewood Cliffs, NJ. 1992. 548 pp. $54.00. ISBN 0-13-296765-0. The author has prepared a text with a very narrow focus. While the title indicates that the book is also of interest to scientists, almost all of the examples come from the engineering world. Someone working in another branchofsciencecanstillmakeuseofthiswork, but anassortment of examples from various scientific fields would have given the title accuracy and provided better help to a nonengineering user. The most likely readers of this book are those who have already chosen Microsoft Excel to fulfill a need they have. The author spends his introductory chapter explaining why a spreadsheet program is useful for certain problems and why Excel is the best of the choices available. Those who need this persuasion are not likely to have purchased the book, given that the other IO chapters are focused on how to coax Excel to accomplish the desired results. For its very narrow audience, the book is highly useful, if already slightly outdated by newer versions of the software. Kral methodically introduces the reader to spreadsheets in general, Excel in particular, and then chapter by chapter through Basic Computation; Arrays; Preparing Graphs; Command Macros; Linking, Importing and Exporting; etc. Each chapter builds on the knowledge gained from the previous ones, and the examples are extensive and appropriate. For instance, in the chapter on Numeric Functions, we are expected to be able to handle menu commands and dialog boxes, to manipulate a spreadsheet, and to enter the necessary data. Given that knowledge, we learn how to namevariables and use the built-in formulas to accomplish our ends. We also continue learning the basic functions of the program, including how to justify and print. I have one more minor quibble with this book; I could not find mention in it of the fact that Excel is also a program that can run on a Macintosh. Given the mixed nature of the current computing world, a brief mention would have been appropriate, and perhaps also a few comments on the minor differences in operating the two versions. This is not a book for everyone. The people who will most benefit from it are those engineers who are already using a spreadsheet program but
not getting all they want out of it or those who want to start using a spreadsheet program in their work.
Kimberly Parker Yale University Chemistry Library
Cbemical Information Management. By Wendy A, Warr and Claw Suhr. VCH: New York. 1992. f48.00. ISBN 3-52728366-8 (hard cover). ChemicallnformationManagement is a review of the typesof chemical information currently available. It is international in scope with 27 pages of references. One-third of the book is devoted to patents and is well written and up to date. This portion gives a summary of the patenting systems worldwide, the functions and utility of the patent literature, and the differences in the way various government agencies and chemical information organizations handle patents. Chapters on the primary, secondary, and gray literature, information technology hardward and software, data banks, chemical structure-representation, searching and handling, and expert systems constitutetherestofthebook. Thebulkofthereferenceshereare from 1988 and 1989, with a fair number from 1990. There are six supplemental 1991 references listed in the preface, but because this part deals with the rapidly changing field of information technology, it is unfortunately a little dated. However, it does give a good historical perspective and background. Other noteworthy features include the sections on spectral and crystallographic data banks, artificial intelligence,and chemical structure software for microcomputers. Overall, this is a solid book for chemical information classes and for people who are new to this field. Chemical Information Management will be a good addition to a chemistry or a library and information sciences library.
Jayashri Nagaraja Princeton University
