[mkl]

There are many programming libraries that would be better than Excel, e.g. scipy implements quite a few algorithms very accessibly, but that's not what OP is looking for.

[mlac]

The book covered the theory well and introduced it in a way that was easy for less technical people to use. Excel was used and helped to visualize problems with two dimensions.

I would recommend that text for anyone interested in getting into optimization. Excel quickly hits limits but the concepts translate to other tools