I've written many Excel books, but this one was probably the most challenging. I learned quite a bit during this project, and it furthered my belief that Excel is a never-ending source of surprises, even for us old-timers. Excel's charting feature is like an iceberg: There is much more to it than appears on the surface.

Special thanks are due to Jon Peltier, one of the planet's leading Excel chart experts and Microsoft MVP. I was able to convince Jon to be the technical editor for this book, and his contributions are sprinkled liberally throughout the pages. As in the past, it was a pleasure working with Paul Levesque, my project editor. I'm also grateful to Greg Croy, acquisitions editor at Wiley, for giving me the go-ahead to write this book.

The Excel community tends to be very open with its ideas, and this is especially apparent in the area of charting. I owe a special debt to many people who provided the inspiration for several of the examples in this book. Thanks to Stephen Bullen, Debra Dalgleish, Charley Kyd, Tushar Mehta, and Andy Pope, all of whom are Microsoft Excel MVPs and charting pros. I'm also grateful to Debbie Gewand, who amazed me with her Excel clip art. Thanks also to Nick Hodge, an Excel MVP who really likes to see his name in my books.

Many folks throughout the world have sent me charting examples. Although there wasn't room for most of them, many of the general ideas were incorporated into my examples. I send a special thanks to the following: Fernando Cinquegrani, Gilbert Dubourjale (GeeDee), Thierry Fahmy, Serge Garneau, Steve Kearley, Gary Klass, Bill Koran, Linda Mabree, Ken Mahrer, Joan Maslin, Sanjay S. Mundkur, Michael O'Callaghan, and Tony Sleigh.

Finally, I'd like to acknowledge the work of Edward R. Tufte. His books should be required reading for anyone who takes chart-making seriously.

Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media Development

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Executive Editor: Greg Croy

Copy Editor: John Edwards

Technical Editor: Jon Peltier

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