The Remarkable Story of Risk (Against the Gods)

[Bastian Gross]

Hello,

Peter Bernstein's famous book Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk (1998) is a funny and entertaining reading about the thoroughgoing history of probability and riskmanagement. Bernstein is a very good and clever writer.

As mathematican student, I readed this book in 2 days, burst out laughing and was enthused. This is a book for everyone, who want know more about the history of math in a funny way.

"Against the Gods" is an outstanding book about the evolution of risk and man's attempt to understand it. It begins with ancient times and traces the history of numbers and probability leading eventually to today's seemingly complex financial world of portfolio theory, derivatives, and risk management techniques.

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Peter L.Bernstein is also author of the interesting books, wich also are historical Stories about Financial marketplaces:

1. Capital Ideas: The Improbable Origins of Modern Wall Street
2. Capital Ideas Evolving (this is sequel of the first book)

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[dcifrths]

i read this book in nowhere near 2 days. it was great and a very interesting read. i don't think i laughed more than 1 or 2 times, though i really like how he approached this broad topic.

for perspective, it is a fairly long book and the modern "risk" sense (reason i purchased it) was only about the last 1/6th of the book.

either way, it is a good one.

Barron