Monthly Archives: November 2013

A Problem Solved in Excel and Mathcad

I use both Excel and Mathcad in my daily work. Most people would consider me very proficient in both. I frequently get asked, "Which tool is better?" Like all other interesting questions in Engineering, the answer is "it depends".

As an example, I decided to work a simple problem in both Excel and Mathcad. A number of the advantages and disadvantages of both tools can be seen in this example. The key problem with Excel is its cell-oriented approach. While the cell-oriented approach works for small problems, it has major issue with large problem Continue reading

Posted in Ballistics, History of Science and Technology, Military History, Naval History | 2 Comments

Snake Venom Math

Quote of the Day It is easier to exclude harmful passions than to rule them, and to deny them admittance than to control them after they have been admitted." — Seneca Introduction I was a recently in Barbados doing some … Continue reading

Posted in General Science | Comments Off on Snake Venom Math

Fire Control Formulas from World War 1

Quote of the Day When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag carrying the Cross. — Sinclair Lewis Introduction I am reading the book "Dreadnought Gunnery and the Battle of Jutland: The Question of Fire Control". … Continue reading

Posted in Ballistics, History of Science and Technology, Military History | 11 Comments

WW2 Sub Skippers Were Very Young

Hollywood movies usually show WW2 sub skippers as men in their late 40s or 50s (e.g. Operation Pacific or Run Silent Run Deep). I found a list of the top scoring US submarine skippers of WW2 and was able to figure out their birthdays. Given their birthdays, I determined that they had an average age of 32 years on December 7th, 1941. The following table summarizes their ages and their post-war "ships sunk" scoring. When you think about the responsibility they had, these men were very young. Continue reading

Posted in History Through Spreadsheets, Military History | 3 Comments

Inserting Images into Excel Comments Using VBA

I use Excel for basic statistical analysis of manufacturing and field return data as part of daily routine. I also use Excel for department budgeting. During these tasks, I frequently need to add information to my spreadsheets about my information … Continue reading

Posted in Management, software | 27 Comments

A Tale of Getting Older

I was with a couple I have known for years this weekend. They have two daughters separated in age by five years. The younger daughter is just finishing high school and still lives at home. The older daughter is no … Continue reading

Posted in Personal | Tagged | Comments Off on A Tale of Getting Older