Models Books

I recently bought Engineering Electromagnetics (second edition) by Nathan Ida. It has since become my favourite book on the subject, along with Field and Wave Electromagnetics (second edition) by Cheng. I own six electromagnetics books, of which the two best known are the one by Cheng (aforementioned) and Electromagnetics with Applications by Kraus (sixth edition). I now compare these three books, referring to them as Ida, Cheng, and Kraus.

Firstly, all three books are good. All three are of similar level, suitable for EE undergraduates. (Ida and Cheng use matrices wherever appropriate, but Kraus never uses matrices, not even to simplify the discussion.) All three books display personal enthusiasm for the subject-matter. For example, Ida provides many interesting historical footnotes.

Secondly, Ida has 1235 pages whereas Cheng has 703 and Kraus has 617. It is tempting to attribute this to the fact that Ida tends to explain things with more words (something which I appreciate), but this is not the case because this would not account for more than 10 percent of the total book size. The true reason for the book's length is the in-depth discussion of theory, and the many many applications of the theory. In effect, it combines the best of Cheng (which is good for principles) and the best of Kraus (which is okay for applications). Ida actually far exceeds Kraus in many important applications, e.g. transformers, Smith chart, and numerical methods for boundary-value problems.

Thirdly, all three books are generous in providing answers to end-of-chapter problems. Ida goes one step further by giving answers to ALL problems except a handful of discussion-type questions. Moreover, the problems are categorized under headings so that you can zero in on an area of interest. For example, the chapter on antennas has 36 problems, categorized under the following boldface headings: Hertzian dipole (4 problems), magnetic dipole (2), linear antennas of arbitrary length (2), half-wave dipole antenna (2), various length dipole antennas (3), monopole antenna (5), two-element image antennas (6), n-element linear array (6), reciprocity and receiving antennas (4), and radar (2).

It is noteworthy that most the Amazon.com reviewers say that this is the best book ever on electromagnetics. I am inclined to agree with them.

It's a greatest book that I have ever read on Electromagnetics.
It will be very competible with the Book of Balanis named Advanced Engineering Electromagnetics.
Really Great.

This is really the best book on electromagnetics I've seen until now. It is very complete and very practical. The author has a clear style and the students can follow the text almost without any help from the teacher. There are a lot of review questions and problems (all with answers). It is really a great value book !

This is really the best book on electromagnetics I've seen until now. It is very complete and very practical. The author has a clear style and the students can follow the text almost without any help from the teacher. There are a lot of review questions and problems (all with answers). It is really a great value book !

This is a very, very good text for students new to electromagnetics. Mr. Ida uses lengthy, descriptive narratives to describe the important concepts in introductory field theory, and he goes the extra mile in making sure the student understands what these concepts mean. He accomplishes this through exemplary conceptual discussions and a collection of excellent example problems. His thoroughness justifies the 1200 page length of the text.

There is really nothing bad to say about this book, besides that the figures are obviously drawn by Mr. Ida or an assistant and are occasionally more difficult to read than figures drawn by a professional illustrator. In several examples, it also appears that the students solving the problems for Ida used a table of integrals instead of integrating the functions themselves; in several examples this resulted in more work than would have been required by straightforward integration methods.

Thank you for sending the book so promptly and in great shape!

My son loved this book so much that he slept with it the first couple weeks that he had it. Three years later it's still one of his favorites. The pictures are really detailed and a lot of fun.

These books are great! The entire concept of the hidden picture gets the kids really thinking. The adventure of learning that follows each picture just amazes me. The Where's Waldo books did not appeal to our family. We love the " I spy " books and those pictures are magnificent! These books however, the pictures do captivate you but there is a learning process with each picture. My children are 10, 8, and 5 and I notice the difference in what each one asks from these pictures. I think this series is wonderful because it does combine the puzzle concept with so much else. The Great Animal Search is my 5-year-old son's favorite!

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This would have to be one of the best kid's books around. My 5 year-old just loves hunting for all the hidden critters and counting them off. Sometimes all you see is a tail, or an ear, or a familiar silhouette far off on the horizon.

There is no better way to get children developing a sense of the different environments around the globe and the animals that live in all the different habitats: from the arctic to the equatorial rainforests and from the mountains to the deserts; under the water and by the seaside.

We have only one criticism with this book. It was my budding, junior-zoologist that spotted it. Mr Ibex in not in the comprehensive index although there are ten ibices (?) to be seen on page 26. With 300 different kinds of animals in this book, we have to give it a score of 299 out of 300, that is, almost perfect!

In The Great Animal Search there are some 100 animals to spot and identify on every double-page of this oversized book. Each scenario showcases a different part of the world and the wildlife that lives there. In addition to countless hours of puzzle solving fun, there is a wealth of fascinating animal facts presented in succinct, easy-to-read captions.

This was purchased for our 4 year old who is a major Hot Wheels fan. He and dad pour through the colorful photographs and line up all their cars that match those found in the book. I am sure from a collectors point the information of the value along with the detailed picture would be very useful. It is a nice thick, heavy paged book that will be around this house for a long time.

I find this book extremely helpful in listing a very large percentage of the current (1989 onwards) Hot Wheels variations. The book follows on from the earlier editions and I find it a very useful refererence source.

Awesome very fast shipping. Arrived in excellent condition. Will buy from again. Thanks so much.

If you collect variations of Hot Wheels, you have probably heard of the Godfather of Variations, Michael Zarnock. This guy is nuts about variations and has put together one of the top 3 Hot Wheels collector books ever published. I love the book and have loved it since volume 1 because it has fantastic Blue Card identification pictures and very accurate price guide. If you don't know if a variation is real or fake, just check the Grail, it will let you know if you are dealing with fraud or not. In other words, if it is not in this book you are probably not dealing with a variation. Indispensible to a serious Hot Wheel collector. Gratzi, Don Zarnock.

I just got got this book today and It was more than I expected there were tons and tons of pictures, mr. zarnock give yourself a pat on the back because you did one heke of a job.

Elsa is a frizzy lion-haired 10 year old who is NOT keen on staying at the rotting, peeling "Royal Hotel" or, as some of the letters have fallen off, Elsa would say "Oyal Htl" but there she has ALOT of adventures! She meets a group of vandalisms and eventually becomes great friends with them, along with Naomi, the girl who loves to read in the loos! She saves the hotel from burning to cinders with her loud voice and eventually moves to a 5-star hotel, where she has the time of her life! Have fun with Elsa in the 100% recommended, highly entertaining, incredibly amusing, and sidecrackingly hilarious "Bed and Breakfast Star"

A++

This book is about a little girl who moves from a lovely house to a evntualy a Bed and Breakfast Hotel . One night the girl smells smoke and goes to see what it is . She finds a fire and shouts to everyone to get up . They all hear her and run out of the building whilst someone calls the fire bragade . The fire is put out and the becomes a heroine .

I read this book at age 9 and couldn't put it down. This book is perfect for girls ages 7-10 who still have yet to master the art of reading. The story is about a girl who's parents are separated and she moves around very often. She is so witty and good- natured that she finds an adventure in every move she makes. The illistrations are simple and yet unique and I would recommend this book to any girl, around the age of 7-10.

It usually takes me ages to read a long book but I could not put this book down. It is one of very best books I have ever read!!!!!!!!

I read this book when I was younger, and I absolutley loved it. I'm 15 now, and I still have to say this is probably the best book I have ever read. I love all the titles by Jaqueline Wilson, but this one is my favourite. Probably because this story covers all emotion. It is at times sad, but others very funny. The main character is great, and Jaqueline Wilson captures the emotion perfectly. You can see the character clearly in your head. If this is an adult reading this review, considering buying it for a child, do! This is an excellent book, and even if your child does not like reading they will find it very hard to put this book down!

When I first read this book, I didn't have much experience in life and had a very short memory. As I grew in experience I realized that many of the positive changes in my thinking were seeded by ideas I gained reading this when I was relatively barren emotionally and intellectually. The person I was when I first read this book is now but a memory. But the amount and the kind of guidance I got along the way or continue to get from various sources is regulated by my own readiness to understand and eventually accept. I credit this work for giving me a place to start.

I read this book back when I was 18 and besides all its other values, I was completely cured of procrastination after reading it!

I recommend this book on finding your identity and strengthening it. Very interesting the chapter about healthy separateness in marriage!The Art of Loving

Read this book as it has the ability to allow you to transform your life.

I first read M. Scott Peck's 'The Road Less Travelled' over 20 years ago, but it is a text to which I return again and again, as Peck's insights and observations remain a constant source of inspiration and guidance in my life. It still finds a ready home in the hands of therapists, counselors, ministers, teachers, career planners, and others as part of their resources, and is not out of place in the home of anyone who cares about the directions of her or his life.

Peck was a clinical psychiatrist - the material for this book came largely from his experiences with clients and others, seeing what worked and what didn't, what was missing and what was mis-understood. Often cases involved psychotherapy (talk therapy), but the processes here are not confined to therapists' offices. The same kinds of problem solving, processing and relationship building that takes place in psychotherapy can be used as life-long tools.

Peck resists labels such as Freudian and Jungian; he doesn't look for, nor does he offer, quick fixes or the psychotherapeutic variety of the get-rich-quick schemes. This book is not a therapy manual, but rather a guide to spiritual growth that incorporates therapeutic and psychological principles. Peck echoes the sentiments of many spiritual directors and leaders through the millennia that spiritual and personal growth are long journeys, not short leaps. It involves dedication and intention, and a willingness to accept risk and change.

Perhaps it is ironic that, given this, the first topic Peck focuses upon is Discipline. However, without discipline, change can go unchecked and uncharted, growth can become problematic, and the human soul becomes susceptible to a host of difficulties. Dedication and application to problem-solving and long-term building (whether it be of retirement funds or of one's own spirit) requires a disciplined approach that recognises that life is difficulty (the first of Buddha's Four Noble Truths, cited by Peck), gratification sometimes needs to be delayed for greater goods, and reality needs to be approached and dealt with responsibly.

Peck calls here for a life to be totally dedicated to the truth. This is hard, because we as human beings are so accustomed to rationalisation and reinterpretation. This kind of dedication also requires a balance in life, and an ability to be flexible as the truths of our lives change - few of us are in possession of timeless and eternal truths governing every aspect of our lives, and often those who feel they are end up disappointed in the end. The continuing creativity of God in our lives requires flexibility, but this is best achieved in a disciplined and balanced context.

Peck then turns to love, a mysterious thing even in the best of times. He identifies some of the myths of `falling in love' and romantic love that our culture through various means idealises, leading to great dissatisfaction when we do not achieve the desired feelings or situations. Peck makes the assertion that love is not really a feeling, but rather an action or activity, that involves a lot of risk-taking (Peck talks about risks of independence, of commitment, of confrontation, and of loss). True love requires discipline and recognition of the needs of the self and others.

The final two sections of the text deal with aspects of religion on the spiritual and psychological development of persons. The first section looks at religion and growth processes. He does a short survey of some attitudes toward religions and denominations, as well as a look at how the modern scientific mindset colours the worldview of modern people, particularly with ideas of verification and skepticism. Some psychologists and theorists have wondered if religion were mass delusions, mass psychosis, or some other kind of sickness. Peck uses interesting extended case studies here to examine the role of various aspects of religion in the developmental lives of several people. Peck asks the question, `Is belief in God a psychopathology?' In some aspects, and for some people, the way they approach and `use' religion, the answer may well be yes. However, Peck also takes the psychotherapeutic community to task for often being too narrow or too dismissive of the value of religious sentiment and institutions in the lives of their charges.

The final section looks at the role of grace in the spiritual growth process. Grace is another mysterious force, like love, that is difficult to pin down and explain. It is also something uncontrollable. Why do some with artistic talent end up being successful and celebrated, and others not? Why do some use their talent, when others don't? In cases of ultimate despair, Peck makes the observation that while it is often clear why some people commit suicide, it is not often clear why others in the same situations don't. Some of this has to do with the unconscious mind that guides us, and some of it has to do with the miracle of serendipity, as Peck describes it.

Peck describes in some detail his concept of what grace is and how it works, in very general terms that relate to no denomination or religion in particular, but has wide applicability. He talks both about resistance to grace and the welcoming of grace. Grace is not easy, and often comes with responsibilities (Bonhoeffer talks about cheap grace; the requirements of grace are noted through scriptures of many religions). Welcoming grace welcomes often more than we bargained for, but also often more than we hoped.

In his afterword, Peck discusses the difficulties of writing in an organised and linear fashion about something so fundamentally disorganised as spiritual growth and therapeutic processes. He also talks about the need for finding competent help when required - ability is not measured by degrees, he states (something true in many professions). This is useful for those seeking a first therapeutic relationship, or needing a change.

With all the due respect to the other authors I would say that if one is interested in a good theoretical book whihc is also good on the implementation side then the book of Brigo and Mercurion is definetly the best book I have ever read on the subject.

Anyone interested in implementing the LMM/BGM/MSS model in practice is well advised to read it.

I would just say that this is certainly a must have in the field.

In my humble opinion, this is the best book on Interest Rate modeling out there. The writing style is clear and focused and the appendices are fantastic. The book is rigorous but someone with some background in Stochastic Calculus will find it easy to follow. If you need refresher, dont worry the authors have you covered, see the appendix on Stochastic Calculus. Not an introductory book. Very exciting book.

In the late nineties I went through Brigo's innovative work on stochastic nonlinear filtering with differential geometry techniques. I was favorably impressed by results and style, particularly in his dissertation and in his 'geometry in present day science' very readable overview. Interesting results are found and nicely told with accurate - but not pointlessly complicated - advanced mathematics for the problems at hand, I reasoned.

I've followed a similar path from control to finance, and having worked with interest rate models, I couldn't help but order this Brigo-Mercurio book. I had high expectations 'cause these two guys are working in a bank on the real thing.

Sure enough I'm not disappointed.

1-factor models are handled with great care, a ton of formulas and recipes are given. I've never seen this kind of analysis of pricing with Gaussian 1-f models. The new upgrade of the CIR model is interesting and accurate. "CIR++" is now my favorite 1-f model. I like the treatment of lognormal 1-f models and the explanation of Monte Carlo and trees -- the flow-chart for Bermudan swaptions is crystal clear! Plots of market implied structures and volatility calibration are useful additions.

The chapter on 2-f extensions has one of the best discussions on volatility, and two tons of useful formulas/recipes. Two dimensional trees!

The HJM chapter size is OK. I agree - the useful models embedded in HJM are short rate models and market models.

Market models - these three chapters alone are worth the book. You'll find yourself nodding as you read the guided tour. They make it look easy all the time. The exposition is focused, clear, intuitive, detailed. There's also new stuff, just check the calibration discussion! Smile modeling begins with a brilliant tour and ends with Brigo-Mercurio's new approach - the mixing dynamics - deserving a whole chapter if expanded.

The detailed explanation on products is a much welcome original addition. Cross currency derivatives!

Quotes - as in Brigo's old work - are a pleasant diversion while reading. The 500 and more pages are a treat given the competitive price.

Still there's room for improvements - more "CIR2++"! Something on 3-f models. Historical estimation of the correlation matrix and low-rank optimized approximations. Expand smile modeling! More hedging. Something on structured products. Cross currency libor model. chapter 9 - other interest rate models - sounds out of place and can be suppressed for other things.

This book rings true and has useful teachings for students, academics and practitioners. Although it requires some background in stochastic calculus, it's hard to beat on the pricing front. Kudos to Brigo and Mercurio! It only harms there aren't enough books like this.

This recent book, written by two Italian "quants" Mercurio & Brigo, gives a nice and accessible overview of interest rate models which is a compromise between the practitioner viewpoint, expressed for ex. in Rebonato's book "Interet Rate option models"
and the theoretical viewpoint such as the one in Musiela & Rutkowski.
The authors, themselves PhDs in quantitative finance/ applied maths, wrote this book while working as quants in an Italian bank and this first hand contact with the market gave them a
practical view on the subject which markes this book very interesting.

The book contains a "rational" catalogue of models used in practice ( as opposed to models which are impossible to implement!).

In contrast with academic books on interest rate modeling which deal with HJM formulation, there is a lot of emphasis here on LIBOR and Swap market models
(BGM -Jamshidian models) which reflects the current market practice. This is a positive point since there are not many books with details on implementing and using these "market models".

Part II: Interest rate models in practice is particularly useful because it deals with implementation and calibration which, as any practitioner knows, are important and usually delicate issues.
However calibration issues are dealt with somewhat lightly, especially recent developments on modeling cap/swaption smiles
are not included here.

This book can also be used for a graduate level/PhD course on interest rate models.

There are a lot of numerical examples in the book and mathematics is kept to the necessary level while keeping the
approach both rigorous and understandable.

Overall, it is one of the best books written on the subject.
I highly recommend it to PhD students, quants and researchers interested in this field.

This is the best book available on interest rate models. Very detailed. Much more focused and readable than Rebonato's book. More pragmatic and explicit than Musiela and Rutkowski. Not as theoretical as Hunt and Kennedy. James and Webber also looks very good, but I'm not that familiar with it. All other books have only bits and pieces on interest rates.

According to my opinion this book is well written and well organized and also quite short so that you are not lost in details.

This is a very short resume of Standard Model, but well written,
the misguidance here, is the title "introduction" ... this text
is not for beginners.

This book is an excellent introduction to particle physics. The chapters are short, clear and very readable. As the previous reviewer mentioned, there are a series of reasonable exercises at the end of each chapter with answers provided in the back of the book. Many concepts that field theory or particle physics books leave mysterious or have a difficult time explaining are clearly laid out in this book. I would judge it superior to Griffiths particle physics book, and if you are looking for a nice supplement to serious study of quantum field theory, this is it.

In this second edition the authors have upgraded their book to incorporate recent discoveries in several areas including:

o the successes of the theory of strong interactions
o the observations on matter-antimatter asymmetry
o advances in neutrino physics, especially as it has become clear that neutrinos are not mass-less
o the theoretical concepts from the electromagnetic and weak interactions of leptons and quarks to the strong interactions of quarks.

The book is aimed at the graduate student in particle physics. It has a rigorous mathematical structure. After all, the Standard Model is basically a mathematical theory that describes the interactions between leptons and quarks.

Throughout the book there are many references to open questions that likewise reflect the state of the Standard Model.

This book is about the experimental facts and the theoretical principles that lead to the construction of the Standard Model lagrangian. It is NOT about calculating scattering crossections. Some of the problems ask you to calculate decay rates but only at tree level and the fields are treated like classical fields not operators, with the exception that the fermionic fields anticommute. There is a 12-page chapter on quantizing the fields and renormalization but I find it rather sketchy so don't expect to understand a lot from it if you don't already know it.

You should have some background in varying lagrangians otherwise the book will frequently seem difficult to you. The authors obtain symmetry currents corresponding to a symmetry of the lagrangian not in the standard way of Noether's theorem. Their method is entirely correct but it took me long time to understand because they didn't explain it with enough details the first time they used it (section 7.1, page 65). I think that will throw off the horse many readers.

The style is wonderfully concise which makes the logical structure easier to follow and there isn't the usual fluff `to motivate' things that are simply put guesses like the principle of local gauge invariance. On the other hand, some places definitely need more detailed explanations like signs of certain quantities or the symmetry currents I mentioned above.

The treatment of the Dirac equation and spinors is the least messy I've seen. The way they obtain the nonrelativistic limit of the Dirac equation with EM field is again the best and least messy I've seen.

The book has nice appendix on the groups of the Standard Model which covers what you need to know about SO(3), SU(2) and SU(3) in a very efficient way. There are about 5 problems after each chapter most of which have a solution outline at the end of the book.

Things I understood from this book:

-- why time reversal, space inversion and charge conjugation of fields are defined in a way that previously seemed to me quite arbitrary
-- how demanding local gauge invariance necessitates introduction of gauge fields which leads to interaction terms
-- how local gauge invariance can't be proven, it's just a guess that has worked so far hence it's called `principle' (my own interpretation)
-- global and local symmetry breaking, Goldstone bosons and Higgs boson
-- how the Lagrangian densities of the electroweak and strong interactions were constructed from the experimental input by demanding local gauge invariance and guessing the symmetry group to be SU(2) and SU(3) correspondingly
-- what's Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix that mixes the quark fields and how it arises
-- how symmetries of the lagrangian density lead to conservation numbers
-- how neglecting some terms in the lagrangian leads to effective lagrangian and effective theory
-- how to work with the terms in the QCD lagrangian where different matrices multiply different indices

Great book, easy read and offers something of value for everyone. The book speaks to people who are both familiar with some of the teachings behind the "BLM" as well as those just looking for a way to jumpstart their lives with new meaning. This book is inspiring. So often we get bogged down with day to day life we forget about living our lives with purpose. This book has gotten me back on the court in the game of life.

Simply do the leg work asked of you by Dr. Barrett, plot a course and step into your new life. Dr. Barrett is not giving you the blue print to his or anyone else's life. He is giving you the tools and skills needed to create the blue print for your life. Just remember you are creating it, so you can change it.

In this book, Dr. Barrett acknowledges that many people want a better life but do not know how to reach their goals/ultimate goal or life's vision. In many ways, I find wanting a better life to be a call to do and be better. The question I have always asked is: How? I often dream about a happier, healthier, fruitful, and more fulfilled life and I know many, if not most, of us have. According to Dr. Barrett, these desires when balanced are normal, natural, achievable, and within reach. However, he contends that the major barriers to reaching our goals include failing to create a solid plan that we wholeheartedly pursue (That was me in a nutshell!). What I like about this book is that Dr. Barrett's approach is realistic, doable, and a wonderful resource for people who are willing to create and be responsible for their own happiness. He illustrates that success is not by chance; it is intentional. In past years, I was unaware of how the sum of my small decisions created my lifestyle. I am now very aware. Therefore, I am more active and take a proactive approach in taking valuable steps toward designing my life and living my life's vision. I have devised and implemented a plan that helps me reorganize (or should I say organize) my life in many ways including: saving and investing more money, spending less money, pursuing my dream career, spending more time with my family and friends, and ultimately living my life by my design. Living and not just existing! Essentially, I have put first things first --- what matters most.

For many of us, change can seem real daunting but Dr. Barrett offers "Real" help. Oftentimes our emotions cloud our abilities to think clearly and help ourselves. These are two of the reasons why I recommend giving this book a try.

Pros: Dr. Barrett is honest in asking that the reader be active in creating and sustaining their own happiness. This request is realistic. It is impossible to build and sustain a happy and healthy life on wishful thinking alone. (If we could, I would have been a world renowned whimsy/fantasy architect)

Recommendation to readers: Take your time with this book. Do not rush. Learning and understanding the model is important. How can you apply what you never learned or understood? Reading to understand will help you absorb more and have less difficulty applying the techniques.

Cons/Suggestion to Author: This book does not have a simplified companion guide/activity workbook supplement. Dr. Barrett should create one that is easy, convenient, feasible, and pleasurable to use.

The most fundamental question that you need to ask yourself as you purchase this book is; are you ready for positive change in your life? For those of you who are having internal struggles as to how to attain lifelong happiness or to pose the easy although at the same time difficult questions Dr. Barrett ask of his readers, what does happiness means to you and what are you willing to do to achieve this happiness? Are you ready to venture on this magical yet attainable journey? It's a lifelong process. The author is quite frank and honest in his assessment in preparing his readers with the internal and external factors that the readers will come into contact with as they go on this journey and he does give valuable insight as to what is needed to be successful. The Barrett Leadership Model (BLM) is an eleven-step progression that does not have to be used in sequential order. You can take it in all at once or take it in tentative steps. (This works for me, I'm a coward, for now!). There are exercises that gently guide the readers to find clarity in their lives. You know this is an excellent book and an easy read. I give it five stars easily; however, the challenge is not in understanding the book, the challenge is you the reader. You have to ask yourself if you have it in you to make the essential changes in your life to get you to where you want to be; Dr. Barrett calls it sustainable happiness. This might sound like an easy task, however, we are creatures of habit and I can tell you from experience that this is something that you have to want for yourself. If or when you get to that point in your life when you say, "Enough is enough, I'm ready to lead my life and not leave it to others." Please purchase this book it will be your lifesaver.

"Leading from the Inside-Out" is an excellent book for developing Leadership skills in life, work, or education. It is a fast and easy development model that will put you to focus on yourself and then build outward towards achieving your goals. It is also a great companion to have while traveling. I read this book then , read it again. It is a well structured, organized, and a thorough leadership guide. I have a pocket dictionary, thesaurus and now I'll add the Barrett Leadership Model "Leading from the Inside - out." I really enjoyed this book.

I am always in search of an informative book and this was referred to me by a coworker. I borrowed the book to read and it was a very easy to read book it took me less than half a day to read. I was content with the way my life was going until I picked this book up. Now upon finishing it I have purchased my own copy and already read it a second time. I have started to do the exercises in the book and made changes in my life. I am in the process of pursuing a passion of mine because of the book. I think this book will definitely help a lot of people put life into perspective.

Nothing else to say. The best book for actuarial mathematics. Also good for risk managers, in particular for operational risk.

Nothing else to say. The best book for actuarial mathematics. Also good for risk managers, in particular for operational risk. It does not introduce many concepts but rather take to advance level. Excellent concepts that can be applicable in any topic or situation. A must buy in you want to have your grips on acturial mathematics and concepts

"Loss Models from Data to Decision" is an excellent book that covers many of the areas of mathematics and statistics that property and casualty insurance (aka general insurance) actuaries are required to know. Topics include: frequency and severity models; aggregate loss models; ruin models; Bayesian statistics; credibility and simulation. The theory is well explained; with worked examples throughout and numerous exercises at the end of each section (these questions are based on past SOA and CAS exam questions, so are directly relevant to people studying for either of these exams). Solutions to the exercises are not provided in this book, but a separate solutions manual is available.

I am a lecturer in Actuarial Studies at an Australian university and set this book for one of my (later-year undergraduate) units. In my opinion, this is the best General Insurance text book available and students whom I have spoken to tell me that they like this book very much, too. I highly recommend this text for all student actuaries.

When I took a job to model prediction of loss reserves for workers compensation insurance, I began to realize that the traditional statistical methods that I generally relied n would not help me (without modification). The required modification would be either to transform variables or to model long-tailed probability distributions. This is because in the insurance business you have to reserve for those big catastrophies. The cost data for workers compensation data generally show a high frequency of low to moderate costs... . However occasionally there are a few cases of sever injury causing permanent disability which could run over 1 million dollars. Even though the probability of occurrence is small the cost is so high that it cannot be ignored. Such claims will surely be found when large insurance company cover millions of employees over many years.
The problem occurs when insuring for floods, earthquakes, fires and other disasters. Stuart Klugman and Bob Hogg in 1984 wrote the first introductory text to acquaint statisticians with such probability models that are important in the insurance business. Other books covering the subject were covered in books on risk theory designed for actuaries. This book covers all the topics and assumes mathematical and staistical knowledge at the level of the book by Hogg and Craig (so some calculus is required).

When I took a job to model prediction of loss reserves for workers compensation insurance, I began to realize that the traditional statistical methods that I generally relied n would not help me (without modification). The required modification would be either to transform variables or to model long-tailed probability distributions. This is because in the insurance business you have to reserve for those big catastrophies. The cost data for workers compensation data generally show a high frequency of low to moderate costs (say in the range of $1000 to $50,000). However occasionally there are a few cases of severe injury causing permanent disability which could run over 1 million dollars. Even though the probability of occurrence is small the cost is so high that it cannot be ignored. Such claims will surely be found when large insurance company cover millions of employees over many years.

The problem occurs when insuring for floods, earthquakes, fires and other disasters. Stuart Klugman and Bob Hogg in 1984 wrote the first introductory text to acquaint statisticians with such probability models that are important in the insurance business. Other books covering the subject were covered in books on risk theory designed for actuaries. This book covers all the topics and assumes mathematical and staistical knowledge at the level of the book by Hogg and Craig (so some calculus is required).

Buying from Aamazon.com directly instead of from its markplace is a pleasent experience. It is safe and faster delivery. Highly recommend.

There are tons of books on linear algebra, but very few with the scope of this one. Researchers facing any non-trivial task in linear algebra would do well to look here first. There are, for example, chapters on how vectorizing matrices (by stacking the columns) relates to Kronecker products, and taking derivatives of matrix functions. If you need to take the derivative of the determinant of a matrix with respect to its inverse, look no further. I wish the book was typeset better, but the content is fantastic.

I am a PhD level graduate student who has never had a matrix algebra course. I got this book to help with a Linear Models course I am currently taking. The book is very helpful, and provides a solid background in the first few chapters before building on them for more complex results. Definitely a good reference to have nearby.

I am not a statistician, but this book has been my major reference on matrix algebra since I got it. The presentation is a bit dense, but I want to point out that the author actually presents the proofs to essentially _all_ theorems in the book. Perhaps this explains the style. As for the content, I find this book very comprehensive in my experience. But the dense page-setting of the book actually makes it visually challenging to locate a result. I also note that there are extensive exercises at the end of every chapter, although I probably won't use this as a textbook for my students.

This is a pretty good tool book for a statistician but it still has some samll problems, (1) the first few chapters, author should give more examples to describe concepts. (2) author can use more clear or simple way to describe many basic concepts but he does not do it! (if you have taken Linear Algebra from math, you will understand what I mean). Overall, this is a pretty good bookfor beginners.