Recently read, mixed edition
When Genius Failed, by Roger Lowenstein
I reread this one, this time with an understanding of the nature of the financial instruments that they were trading in. That adds some noticeable depth to the story: Understanding how someone might not have the money to stay in an expected-profitable trade, makes parts like Meriwether's buyout of Eckstein's treasuries-futures position make sense. (When trading a futures contract, there isn't an upfront purchase: Instead you put some money in a margin account, and money gets added or subtracted (margin calls!) when the market moves. So if the market goes crazy, even temporarily, you need to come up with a lot of cash.) Even without that understanding it's a well-written history book covering the events surrounding Long-Term Capital Management's rise and implosion. With it, it's also a useful tour of how high finance works, and what can go wrong: Markets can go nuts, or at least diverge from rational models, so don't bet the company that they won't.
Highly recommended.
The Fly in the Cathedral by Brian Cathcard
(A gift from Beth's parents) This is history, covering the events around the Cavendish lab leading up to Walton and Cockcroft (with a lot of help from Rutherford & others) splitting the atom (Li+H => 2HE). It's very readable, and gives a good overview of the physics without requiring any math. At one point I found myself wishing for more math, to understand why an accelerated proton is so much more likely to hit a light nucleus than an alpha particle, but I was able to work it out. One thing that it puts into perspective is just how fast (from a historical perspective) atomic physics advanced: The first transmutation of elements was by Rutherford in 1919, the atom was first split in 1932 (substantially delayed by the need for particle accelerators), and practical application (A-bombs) in 1945. One of the more striking things from a modern perspective is the extent to which basic research was a rich man's hobby as late as 1900. The shift to funded labs and expensive equipment is really quite recent.
Recommended.
Prisoner's Dilemma by William Poundstone
This follows the development of game theory and the life of John von Neumann, in a style strongly reminiscent of Fortune's Formula. It's a good book, slightly diminished for me by comparison with Fortune's Formula (an even better book), and probably by the fact the I knew a fair amount of the material ahead of time. In one case, I'd read the original publication, Douglas Hofstadter's Scientific American articles on the Prisoner's Dilemma and related subjects. The history portions of Prisoner's Dilemma are excellent, but Hofstader does a better job on the game theory. Von Neumann is a fascinating historical figure. He's probably best known for starting Game Theory and his work on computer design. (It's largely his influence that lead to concentrating on digital, binary, stored-program computing. He missed index registers, but otherwise his design strongly resembles modern ones.) Apparently a lot of his best work is on other topics, but ones requiring a lot of advanced knowledge to appreciate. I'm left wondering what else he might have accomplished had he not died young of cancer.
Highly Recommended
I reread this one, this time with an understanding of the nature of the financial instruments that they were trading in. That adds some noticeable depth to the story: Understanding how someone might not have the money to stay in an expected-profitable trade, makes parts like Meriwether's buyout of Eckstein's treasuries-futures position make sense. (When trading a futures contract, there isn't an upfront purchase: Instead you put some money in a margin account, and money gets added or subtracted (margin calls!) when the market moves. So if the market goes crazy, even temporarily, you need to come up with a lot of cash.) Even without that understanding it's a well-written history book covering the events surrounding Long-Term Capital Management's rise and implosion. With it, it's also a useful tour of how high finance works, and what can go wrong: Markets can go nuts, or at least diverge from rational models, so don't bet the company that they won't.
Highly recommended.
The Fly in the Cathedral by Brian Cathcard
(A gift from Beth's parents) This is history, covering the events around the Cavendish lab leading up to Walton and Cockcroft (with a lot of help from Rutherford & others) splitting the atom (Li+H => 2HE). It's very readable, and gives a good overview of the physics without requiring any math. At one point I found myself wishing for more math, to understand why an accelerated proton is so much more likely to hit a light nucleus than an alpha particle, but I was able to work it out. One thing that it puts into perspective is just how fast (from a historical perspective) atomic physics advanced: The first transmutation of elements was by Rutherford in 1919, the atom was first split in 1932 (substantially delayed by the need for particle accelerators), and practical application (A-bombs) in 1945. One of the more striking things from a modern perspective is the extent to which basic research was a rich man's hobby as late as 1900. The shift to funded labs and expensive equipment is really quite recent.
Recommended.
Prisoner's Dilemma by William Poundstone
This follows the development of game theory and the life of John von Neumann, in a style strongly reminiscent of Fortune's Formula. It's a good book, slightly diminished for me by comparison with Fortune's Formula (an even better book), and probably by the fact the I knew a fair amount of the material ahead of time. In one case, I'd read the original publication, Douglas Hofstadter's Scientific American articles on the Prisoner's Dilemma and related subjects. The history portions of Prisoner's Dilemma are excellent, but Hofstader does a better job on the game theory. Von Neumann is a fascinating historical figure. He's probably best known for starting Game Theory and his work on computer design. (It's largely his influence that lead to concentrating on digital, binary, stored-program computing. He missed index registers, but otherwise his design strongly resembles modern ones.) Apparently a lot of his best work is on other topics, but ones requiring a lot of advanced knowledge to appreciate. I'm left wondering what else he might have accomplished had he not died young of cancer.
Highly Recommended