Matthew MacDonald is an author and programmer extraordinaire. He’s the author of Access 2007: The Missing Manual, Creating Web Sites: The Missing Manual, and over a dozen books about programming with the Microsoft .NET Framework. In a dimly remembered past life, he studied English literature and theoretical physics.
Peter Meyers (editor) works as an editor at O’Reilly Media on the Missing Manual series. He lives with his wife and cats in New York City. Email: peter.meyers@gmail.com.
Rhea Howard (technical reviewer) works in the Operations department at O’Reilly Media and is an avid Excel user. She currently splits her time between Sebastopol and San Francisco, CA.
Zack Barresse (technical reviewer) started teaching himself Excel in 2003 and fast became an addict. In October 2005, he was awarded the Microsoft MVP award for Excel. Along with Jake Hilderbrand, he owns http://www.VBAeXpress.com, a site dedicated to VBA. His full-time gig is as an ambulance EMT. Zack’s a family man and a volunteer lieutenant with his local fire department.
Sohaila Abdulali (copy editor) is a freelance writer and editor. She has published a novel, several children’s books, and numerous short stories and articles. She recently finished an ethnography of an aboriginal Indian woman. She lives in New York City with her husband, Tom, and their small but larger-than-life daughter, Samara. She can be reached through her web site at http://www.sohailaink.com.
Writing a book about a program as sprawling and complex as Excel is a labor of love (love of pain, that is). I’m deeply indebted to a whole host of people, including those who helped me track down all the neat and nifty things you can do with the latest version of Office (including bloggers extraordinaire David Gainer and Jensen Harris), those who kept the book clear, concise, and technically accurate (Peter Meyers, Sarah Milstein, Zack Barresse, and Rhea Howard), and those who put up with me while I wrote it (more on that in a moment). I also owe thanks to many people who worked to get this book formatted, indexed, and printed.
Completing this book required a few sleepless nights (and many sleep-deprived days). I extend my love and thanks to my daughter, Maya, who put up with it without crying most of the time; my dear wife Faria, who mostly did the same; and our moms and dads (Nora, Razia, Paul, and Hamid), who contributed hours of babysitting, tasty meals, and general help around the house that kept this book on track. So thanks everyone—without you, half of the book would still be trapped inside my brain!
Missing Manuals are witty, superbly written guides to computer products that don’t come with printed manuals (which is just about all of them). Each book features a handcrafted index and RepKover, a detached-spine binding that lets the book lie perfectly flat without the assistance of weights or cinder blocks.
Recent and upcoming titles include:
Access 2003 for Starters: The Missing Manual by Kate Chase and Scott Palmer
Access 2007 for Starters: The Missing Manual by Matthew MacDonald
Access 2007: The Missing Manual by Matthew MacDonald
AppleScript: The Missing Manual by Adam Goldstein
AppleWorks 6: The Missing Manual by Jim Elferdink and David Reynolds
CSS: The Missing Manual by David Sawyer McFarland
Creating Web Sites: The Missing Manual by Matthew MacDonald
Digital Photography: The Missing Manual by Chris Grover and Barbara Brundage
Dreamweaver 8: The Missing Manual by David Sawyer McFarland
eBay: The Missing Manual by Nancy Conner
Excel 2003 for Starters: The Missing Manual by Matthew MacDonald
Excel 2003: The Missing Manual by Matthew MacDonald
Excel 2007 for Starters: The Missing Manual by Matthew MacDonald
FileMaker Pro 8: The Missing Manual by Geoff Coffey and Susan Prosser
Flash 8: The Missing Manual by E.A. Vander Veer
FrontPage 2003: The Missing Manual by Jessica Mantaro
GarageBand 2: The Missing Manual by David Pogue
Google: The Missing Manual, Second Edition by Sarah Milstein, J.D. Biersdorfer, and Matthew MacDonald
Home Networking: The Missing Manual by Scott Lowe
iMovie HD 6: The Missing Manual by David Pogue
iPhoto 6: The Missing Manual by David Pogue
iPod: The Missing Manual, Fifth Edition by J.D. Biersdorfer
Mac OS X: The Missing Manual, Tiger Edition by David Pogue
Office 2004 for Macintosh: The Missing Manual by Mark H. Walker and Franklin Tessler
PCs: The Missing Manual by Andy Rathbone
Photoshop Elements 5: The Missing Manual by Barbara Brundage
PowerPoint 2007 for Starters: The Missing Manual by E.A. Vander Veer
PowerPoint 2007: The Missing Manual by E.A. Vander Veer
QuickBooks 2006: The Missing Manual by Bonnie Biafore
Quicken for Starters: The Missing Manual by Bonnie Biafore
Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual, Tiger Edition by David Pogue and Adam Goldstein
The Internet: The Missing Manual by David Pogue and J.D. Biersdorfer
Windows 2000 Pro: The Missing Manual by Sharon Crawford
Windows XP for Starters: The Missing Manual by David Pogue
Windows XP Home Edition: The Missing Manual, Second Edition by David Pogue
Windows XP Pro: The Missing Manual, Second Edition by David Pogue, Craig Zacker, and Linda Zacker
Windows Vista: The Missing Manual by David Pogue
Windows Vista for Starters: The Missing Manual by David Pogue
Word 2007 for Starters: The Missing Manual by Chris Grover
Word 2007: The Missing Manual by Chris Grover
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