Dictionary of Financial Engineering (Wiley Series in Financial Engineering)

Book Description

A practical guide to the inside language of the world of derivative instruments and risk management

Financial engineering is where technology and quantitative analysis meet on Wall Street to solve risk problems and find investment opportunities. It evolved out of options pricing, and, at this time, is primarily focused on derivatives since they are the most difficult instruments to price and are also the riskiest. Not only is financial engineering a relatively new field, but by its nature, it continues to grow and develop. This unique dictionary explains and clarifies for financial professionals the important terms, concepts, and sometimes arcane language of this increasingly influential world of high finance and potentially high profits.

John F. Marshall (New York, NY) is a Managing Partner of Marshall, Tucker & Associates, a New York-based financial engineering and consulting firm. Former Executive Director of then International Association of Financial Engineers, Marshall is the author of several books, including Understanding Swaps.

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A practical guide to the inside language of the world of derivative instruments and risk management: Financial engineering is where technology and quantitative analysis meet on Wall Street to solve risk problems and find investment opportunities. It evolved out of options pricing, and, at this time, is primarily focused on derivatives since they are the most difficult instruments to price and are also the riskiest. Not only is financial engineering a relatively new field, but by its nature, it continues to grow and develop. This unique dictionary explains and clarifies for financial professionals the important terms, concepts, and sometimes arcane language of this increasingly influential world of high finance and potentially high profits.

A Dictionary of Derivatives and Financial Engineering

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A Dictionary of Derivatives and Financial Engineering
Guy W., CPA Lin
Manufacturer: Xlibris Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Dictionaries & Thesauruses | Reference | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1425733638

Book Description

Do you know these words: alphabet stock, barstrier, bookbuld, cartwheel, G-hedge, haircut, spider, swaption, vanna, wrangle......? Each term has its unique meaning you may not be able to find its definition in an ordinary dictionary. Derivatives market is a dynamic area with a vocabulary that is constantly changing. It is this dictionary's purpose to present an up-to-date vocabulary. About 10,000 entries have been drawn from futures, options, securities and financial engineering. Definitions are precise and right to the point. Whether you are an investor, a professional trader or an amateur, you will find this dictionary of immeasurable help.

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A Dictionary of Derivatives and Financial Engineering
Guy Lynn
Manufacturer: Mason Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

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ASIN: 0974418439
Release Date: 2007-07-09

Product Description

Do you know these words: barstrier, bookbuld, cartwheel, G-hedge, haircur, spider, swaption, vanna, wrangle...? Each term has its unique meaning you may not be able to find its definition in an ordinary dictionary. Derivatives market is a dynamic area with a vocabulary that is constantly changing. New words are created and new meanings are added to the old terms. This dictinoary has drawn more than 10,000 terms from areas including futures, options, securities, risk management and financial engineering. Definitions are precise and right to the point. Whether you are an investor, a professional trader or an amateur, you will find this dictionary of immeasurable help.

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Lexikon der Finanzinnovationen
Guido Eilenberger
Manufacturer: R. Oldenbourg
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 3486230840

Selling Financial Services: A Professional Approach

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Selling Financial Services: A Professional Approach
Derek Waterworth
Manufacturer: Woodhead Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1855731584

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This book is based on the simple key principle that if the needs of customers, and potential customers, are understood and can be met better than the competition, then the selling of financial services will be a success.

Book Description

This book is a selective and fascinating history of scientific speculation about intelligent extraterrestrial life. From Plutarch to Stephen Hawking, some of the most prominent western scientists have had quite detailed perceptions and misperceptions about alien civilizations: Johannes Kepler, fresh from transforming astronomy with his work on the shape of planetary orbits, was quite sure alien engineers on the moon were excavating circular pits to provide shelter; Christiaan Huygens, the most prominent physical scientist between Galileo and Newton, dismissed Kepler's speculations, but used the laws of probability to prove that "planetarians" on other worlds are much like humans, and had developed a sense of the visual arts; Carl Sagan sees clearly that Huygens is a biological chauvinist, but doesn't see as clearly that he, Sagan, may be a cultural/technological chauvinist when he assumes aliens have highly developed technology like ours, but better. Basalla traces the influence of one speculation on the next, showing an unbroken but twisting chain of ideas passed from one scientist to the next, and from science to popular culture. He even traces the influence of popular culture on science--Sagan always admitted how much E. R. Burroughs' Martian novels influenced his speculations about Mars. Throughout, Basalla weaves his theme that scientific belief in and search for extraterrestrial civilizations is a complex impulse, part secularized-religious, and part anthropomorphic. He questions the common modern scientific reasoning that life converges on intelligence, and intelligence converges on one science valid everywhere. He ends the book by agreeing with Stephen Hawking (usually a safe bet) that intelligence is overrated for survival in the universe, and that we are most likely alone.

Customer Reviews:

More than a healthy dose of skepticism.......2007-06-08

Author George Basalla's history of extraterrestrial life in human thought is well written, interesting, and maddeningly cynical. In his view, the proponents of extraterrestrial life are all looking for surrogate deities, their theorizing is hopelessly marred by anthropomorphism and Victorian-era notions of progress, communication with another civilization is effectively impossible, and every cent spent on SETI-related study has been wasted. As I read, I repeatedly got the impression that he was misrepresenting his intellectual opponents, especially when he painted some of their more speculative ideas as things they believed with a great deal of certainty.

Carl Sagan is Basalla's favorite target. In his telling, Sagan constantly pressed a pro-E.T. agenda in the face of his scientific betters both inside and outside NASA. He has irresponsibly inflated the expectations of the wider public and consistently pushed flights of fancy as though they were fact. Though he grudgingly admits that Sagan was less dogmatic than his supposed intellectual forerunner, Percival Lowell (the man who popularized the Martian canals, even when evidence had turned entirely against him), you couldn't tell from his depiction that Sagan ever showed real skepticism about anything beyond UFOs and the "face" on Mars.

Basalla also tries to insinuate that Sagan's expectations about Mars were heavily influenced by the Martian novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs. It's one thing to say that science fiction sparked Sagan's passion for astronomy, and quite another to suggest that Sagan was actually expecting to find Burroughs' Barsoom.

The most frustrating aspect of the book was the author's apparent lack of imagination when he discussed the pitfalls of anthropocentrism. When he says something along the lines of "why should alien X bear any resemblance to terrestrial X?" the question seems intended to be rhetorical, unarguable. He raises the same question regarding physics, mathematics, science, and technology. But his attempts to justify his suspicions are usually unconvincing. Truth be told, he didn't seem to try very hard, especially in the realms of mathematics and fundamental science. A better argument can be made for broad differences in the development of technology, which is more influenced by cultural constraints and the distribution of natural resources.

He's especially scornful of the anthropocentric bias inherent in the idea that other civilizations are likely to communicate using radio waves. I think it's a perfectly reasonable assumption. According to the principle of mediocrity, if we're using RF, then they're probably a good solution to the problem of communicating over long distances. Also, if it turns out that there is a fundamentally better way of solving the problem (maybe quantum entangled particles, or gravity waves, or something else that we're lousy at detecting right now), they're still likely to have had past experience using RF, and might nevertheless still put some effort into sending and receiving signals.

Why am I so certain that another technologically advanced civilization would have RF experience? Wouldn't it be possible for life and civilization to emerge deep underwater, or beneath an opaque atmosphere? Such creatures would never develop eyesight, so the entire EM spectrum might be unfamiliar to them. Setting aside the question of what powers their ecology if there isn't any light to be had, it seems clear to me that, so long as the creatures had a desire to explore and access to the resources to make their studies, they'd eventually run into some phenomenon that can only be explained by the influence of EM radiation, and probably sooner rather than later. Just as we can create pictures describing the workings of invisible phenomena, it seems certain that other creatures would figure out how to translate the information from EM radiation into a form appropriate to their senses. It might be consistently understudied in relation to other things more familiar to them, yet it seems likely that another intelligent species would figure out that EM radiation was good at conveying information quickly across long distances, and that by detecting the light from distant stars, they could learn a lot about the universe.

Basalla's discussion about what constitutes a civilization and how long they last is interesting, but he makes conclusions far beyond what is scientifically justifiable (even as he accuses SETI supporters of doing the same). He argues that simple things tend to last longer than complex things. Compare the success of the lowly cockroach to the relatively precarious position of bigger, more complex organisms. The same principle goes for societies. Simple hunter-gatherer societies have managed to exist for millions of years. More complex agricultural societies have only been around for a few tens of thousands of years. We have no idea how long we can make our high-tech civilization last.

I'm sympathetic to the argument, but I don't think you can draw too many conclusions from the correlation between complexity and fragility. It's certainly possible to make any system more fragile by throwing in more and more complexity. But it's also possible to make a system more complex in a way that increases its robustness. I don't think that collapse is inevitable, and one of the fundamental properties of intelligence is the ability to remember the past and draw conclusions about the future from it. So when Basalla argues that past societal collapses should refute the notion that spacefaring civilizations can last a long time, I'm not inclined to believe him.

There is lots of food for thought, but be wary of making this author's conclusions yoru own.

Perhaps a necessary corrective, but ..........2006-06-19

The author, a professor of history, makes a valid complaint about pro-SETI astronomers and biochemists who are ignorant of evolution and social science, but he shows his own lack of physical science background in such oxymoronic terms as "high resolution microwaves." He finds SETI's proponents -- notably Percival Lowell (who insisted on a Mars populated with canal-builders) and his "successor" Carl Sagan -- guilty of parochial if not delusional thinking. While perhaps a necessary corrective to Sagan's over-enthusiasm, this book swings the pendulum to the other side with its insistence that even if "they" were "out there," we would never be able to communicate with them. How can we know for sure without a thorough search?

Learn why E.T. isn't going to phone us.......2006-03-08

Basalla has produced an absolutely fantastic overview of the history of speculation about life on other worlds and the scientific quest to communicate with intelligent aliens. He manages to top himself by collecting a series of devastating arguments that reveal the anthropomorphism that has always tainted, and continues to taint, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. (Aliens are trying to reach us with radio telescope technology? Really? Why, what a convenient coincidence-that's same technology we're using to try to talk to them!) In a scant 200 pages, Basalla manages to place the search for E.T. in unvarnished perspective as the quasi-theological longing it is. This book should be required reading for all SETI buffs.

Civilized Life in the Universe : Scientists on Intelligent Extraterrestrials

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Civilized Life in the Universe : Scientists on Intelligent Extraterrestrials
No Author
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OKA2IG

Deities for Atheists.(Civilized Life in the Universe: Scientists on Intelligent Extraterrestrials)(Book review): An article from: Skeptic (Altadena, CA)

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Deities for Atheists.(Civilized Life in the Universe: Scientists on Intelligent Extraterrestrials)(Book review): An article from: Skeptic (Altadena, CA)
Michael Shermer
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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This digital document is an article from Skeptic (Altadena, CA), published by Thomson Gale on March 22, 2006. The length of the article is 1373 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Deities for Atheists.(Civilized Life in the Universe: Scientists on Intelligent Extraterrestrials)(Book review)
Author: Michael Shermer
Publication: Skeptic (Altadena, CA) (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 22, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 13 Issue: 1 Page: 73(2)

Article Type: Book review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

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Non-Equilibrium Thermodynamics: Field Theory and Variational Principle
Istvan Gyarmat
Manufacturer: see notes for publisher info
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000M3ZGN6

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Non-Equilibrium Thermodynamics: Field Theory and Variational Principles
Istvan Gyarmati , Eve Gyarmati , and W. F. Heinz
Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0387048863

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Non-equilibrium Thermodynamics: Field Theory and Variational Principles. Engineering Science Library/ Ingenieurwissenschaftliche Bibliothek
Istv n Gyarmati
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000SVS2SI

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Non-Equilibrium Thermodynamics: Field Theory and Variational Principle

Manufacturer: 0
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000IBH4BO

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HOW DO YOU SING A PORE? Is dedicated to expatriates of any Nationality. This is a compilation of rollicking adventures in the world's most unusual Republic.

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Review of Bayerlein:After Action Reports of the Panzer Lehr Division from D-Day to the Ruhr

Outstanding addition to my library

Bayerlein: After Action Reports of the Panzer Lehr Division Commander from D-day to the Ruhr

Manufacturer: Schiffer Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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KAMPFGRUPPE PEIPER: The Race for the Meuse

Bayerlein: From Afrikakorps to Panzer Lehr (Schiffer Military History)

To the Bitter End: The Final Battles of Army Groups North Ukraine, A, Centre, Eastern Front, 1944-45

Hitler's Commander: Field Marshal Walther Model--Hitler's Favorite General

Red Storm over the Balkans: The Failed Soviet Invasion of Romania, Spring 1944 (Modern War Studies)

ASIN: 0764323423

Book Description

Generalleutnant Fritz Bayerlein, Commander of the Panzer Lehr Division, wrote twenty manuscripts while interred as a U.S. Army prisoner of war from April 1945 until his release from captivity two years later. The entire series of manuscripts, commonly referred to as "Foreign Military Studies", was prepared post-war by hundreds of senior German officers at the direction of the U.S. Army's Historical Division. Bayerlein cooperated whole-heartedly and honestly with the U.S. Army, telling his own version of events as they unfolded, starting with the creation of the famous Panzer Lehr Division. Bayerlein recounts his experiences through the horrors of D-Day, his retreat to the Rhine, the failed Ardennes Offensive, and on to his final days of fighting with his LIII Armeekorps in the Ruhr Pocket. All of General Bayerlein's manuscripts are presented here, compiled into a chronological narrative of his experiences with his Panzer Lehr Division from the Allied Invasion of Normandy to his surrender of the LIII Armeekorps in the Ruhr pocket in the last days of World War II. Bayerlein also wrote several comparisons of his Panzers - Tigers and Panthers - with other armored vehicles, including Russian and American armor. This in-depth analysis, long hidden in boxes in the National Archives and Records Administration, is presented. This is the third book in a series on Bayerlein's life and military career and contains 140 black and white photos, of which thirty are from his family's private collection and have not been previously published, as well as thirty maps hand-drawn by Bayerlein while a prisoner of war.

Customer Reviews:

Review of Bayerlein:After Action Reports of the Panzer Lehr Division from D-Day to the Ruhr.......2007-09-12

This is a fabulous book full of inside information, facts and maps created personnally by the General. The author does an excellent job in presenting the thoughts of the hard nosed General who began to see the fallacy of Hitler's war and was one of the first to surrender his division. It will be of special interest to readers studying the First Infantry Divsion in WWII since General Bayerlein was the significant opponent for much of their operations.
Well researched and well written and a "must read" for WWII students.

Outstanding addition to my library.......2006-12-31

The author has done an excellent job compiling hard to find documents in a single book. The third in her series of books on General Bayerlein, Ms. Spayd has done what no other could; bring to life one of World War II's most colorful and respected leaders. In this book, Ms. Spayd provides the reader with General Bayerlein's self-written accounts of critical events of the war. The book is well organized, providing the reader with a wonderful tool for research or wargaming. Of particular interest are detailed unit break downs and maps done by the General himself. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the Panzer Lehr Division or German military history.

Book Description

This beautifully illustrated anthology explores the religious, cultural, economic, political, and military aspects of the Mughal empire. Written by a host of top contributors, it will serve as an authoritative history on the Mughals for a long time to come.

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MAGNIFICENT MUGHAL JEWELS
Christie's
Manufacturer: Christie's
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000JL4HF4

Book Description

A riveting account of the unexpected relationship between nature and scientific design.

"Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you." When Frank Lloyd Wright said this, he probably wasn't envisioning self-cleaning surfaces, the photonic crystal, or Velcro. But nature has indeed yielded such inventions for those scientists and engineers who heeded the architect's words.

The cutting-edge science of bio-inspiration gives way to architectural and product designs that mimic intricate mechanisms found in nature. In Peter Forbes's engaging book we discover that the spiny fruits of the cocklebur inspired the hook-and-loop fastener known as Velcro; unfolding leaves, insect wings, and space solar panels share similar origami folding patterns; the self-cleaning leaves of the sacred lotus plant have spawned a new industry of self-cleaning surfaces; and cantilever bridges have much in common with bison spines.

As we continue to study nature, bio-inspiration will transform our lives and force us to look at the world in a new way. 69 illustrations.

Customer Reviews:

THE GECKO'S FOOT draws direct links between bioresearch and consumer interests.......2006-10-15

Bio-engineering builds intricate structures based on nature's properties, using 'wet' self-assembly techniques of nature - and this new science is explored rarely for general audiences, making THE GECKO'S FOOT: BIO-INSPIRATION-ENGINEERING NEW MATERIALS FROM NATURE a winning discussion. From the origins of Velcro in the notorious spiny cocklebur to how self-cleaning leaves fostered self-cleaning surface inventions, THE GECKO'S FOOT draws direct links between bioresearch and consumer interests.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

British English.......2006-08-28

Be aware that this was originally published in Britain, and few, if any, of the "Britishisms" are Americanised (or is that Americanized?). An example is the British "tip": this should have been changed to "garbage dump" for the American edition.

Interesting topic........2006-08-15

This book is about bio-inspiration for human technology. It is a very interesting subject, but I had some problems with the execution. For example, the chapters seemed to jump arounds a bit, I didn't get a sense of "flow" from chapter to chapter. There were also some factual errors, the most noticable to me being that "helicopters don't fly in the grand canyon". Since I have done so on a tour, I know this statement to be false. Additionally, the author doesn't go very deeply into the science behind the topics he covers. I suppose he may have just been trying to keep it simple, but anyone buying this book is probably a science nerd, and a little more technical information would be welcome.

Fairly unique topic, Well-told.......2006-06-21

In one of the few books ("Pulse" is another good choice) that focus on bio-inspired processes and products, Forbes explains some interesting applications inspired by lotus, desert beetles, spider silk, and a whole bunch of other examples from Nature. Each chapter focuses on one specific product or theme and hence is fairly independent of the other chapters and can be essentially read in any specific order. The discussion does sometimes may get too technical for a non-science background reader, especially some of the diagrams. However, the discussion in itself is very clear and the reader obtains a good sense of appreciation of the products being envisaged from a particular "inspiration". Excellent information. A must read.

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Excellent Frontier Science Book

The Gecko's Foot
Peter Forbes
Manufacturer: Fourth Estate
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books
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Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature

ASIN: 0007179901

Customer Reviews:

Excellent Frontier Science Book.......2007-09-10

This book is an excellent choice to explain a frontier area of Technology. In the realm of the miniature, specifically the nano realm, the realm between one millionth and one billionth of a meter, nature packs in a world of surprises that affect us in the real world. The author points out that as science and technology progess into this nano realm we often duplicate what nature has already invented "bioinspiration". The author brings out some very interesting examples of nature and man made parallels such as, self cleaning glass that imitates the lotus flower petal's method of remaining spotless, and photonic crystals compared to illuminated deep sea creatures. It shows that the author did some research for this book. He has an entertaining writing style and each chapter moves right along. The book does not get bogged down in mathematical science.

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