There exists only one financial market, why are there so many textbooks on financial maths?

[themarketprofessor]

Hello students and children,

This is my first post. I've been here and there, do this and done that. Just one question to begin my journey here at QuantNet: Why are there so many books on financial mathematics? If the current financial theory has been rigorous in its own right in that everything in the market can be precisely explained and formulated by one theorem or two, one very good book by Steven Shreve would provide a good dose of maths and cover all theoretical know-hows for quants. As for traders, a good dose of practical know-hows and a sensible tool or model are sufficient.

 

[MRoss]

1+1 certainly =2 yet there are thousands of level 1 grade school mathematics books, ever wonder about this?

1. Publishers make money by releasing new editions that correct either a comma or an apostrophe
2. Competition; (every practitioner write a book when he/she retires. For wealth or fame; your pick)
3. New information is introduced. Even minor; warrants a new book; see #1
4. etc.

 

[themarketprofessor]

1+1 certainly =2 yet there are thousands of level 1 grade school mathematics books, ever wonder about this?

1. Publishers make money by releasing new editions that correct either a comma or an apostrophe
2. Competition; (every practitioner write a book when he/she retires. For wealth or fame; your pick)
3. New information is introduced. Even minor; warrants a new book; see #1
4. etc.

Make no mistakes, we talk about a financial market here unless you're a primary school teacher trying explaining it to kindergarten kids - perhaps you are!

Agree that many authors have chosen their own ways to represent ideas and formulae, even abstruse theorems.
And i assume that you're an expert in financial maths, have you ever wondered why all financial maths books have rambled for years on a unigue probability measure for market prices and insisted on a unique way to obtain a price of a stock or a derivative, don't we need as many books to tell us how!

New information therefore warrans new books? Stock prices in the financial market move as irregularly as seen before, so what is so new as to warran a new book? Unless it should be read as mathematical novel.