In general, advice and guidance on how to use a particular software package is available in three forms: the ‘on-board help facility’, the ‘user manual’ and ‘other guides’. Generally speaking, given that the package is straightforward, or has a short life span, the needs of the user can be adequately served by the ‘on-board help facility’ and the ‘user manual’ and, in consequence, no additional ‘other guides’ are necessary. However, if the software is either difficult to understand, still being actively upgraded, or has a multitude of diverse applications, then a plethora of ‘other guides’ rapidly appear in the bookshops. Microsoft Excel is one such software package. Although not difficult to understand, it has, since its inception, undergone many developments and improvements and, as a consequence, attracted the attention of a wide application base and has thus initiated the publication of many ‘other guides’. As one of the many ‘other guides’ on Excel, A Guide to Microsoft Excel for Scientists and Engineers has a great deal to commend it. First, it is well written and clearly explains the various Excel functions in a concise manner without being over reliant on the prior knowledge of the reader. Secondly, it is structured such that the extensive capabilities of Excel are explored and explained in a series of progressive steps. Thirdly, it incorporates detail on many of the more powerful attributes of Excel including the Solver tool and how user-defined functions can be employed to ease problem solving. Finally, it is well littered with application examples and exercises that the reader can use to support practice and improve understanding. Specifically, the text encompasses detail on the developments incorporated into the latest versions of Excel, and includes detail on basic operations, printing, statistical and functional operators, charting, curve-fitting and concludes with a section on exporting Excel sheets into other applications. Although complete as a text in its own right, it could possibly benefit from the inclusion of a section on annotating spreadsheets and from an improved reference base to guide readers to source material. A Guide to Microsoft Excel for Scientists and Engineers should prove to be a useful addition to the bookshelf for a wide range of scientists and engineers and at £16.99 could well be attractive to both postand undergraduate students who undertake study in any of the numerical disciplines.