My Life as a Quant: Reflections on Physics and Finance - Softcover

9780470192733: My Life as a Quant: Reflections on Physics and Finance
View all copies of this ISBN edition:
 
 
In My Life as a Quant, Emanuel Derman relives his exciting journey as one of the first high-energy particle physicists to migrate to Wall Street. Page by page, Derman details his adventures in this field—analyzing the incompatible personas of traders and quants, and discussing the dissimilar nature of knowledge in physics and finance. Throughout this tale, he also reflects on the appropriate way to apply the refined methods of physics to the hurly-burly world of markets.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

From the Inside Flap:
Wall Street is no longer the old-fashioned business it once was. In recent years, investment banks and hedge funds have increasingly turned to quantitative trading strategies and derivative securities for their profits, and have raided academia for PhDs to model these volatile products and manage their risk. Nowadays, the fortunes of firms and the stability of markets often rest on mathematical models. "Quants"–the scientifically trained practitioners of quantitative finance who build these models–have become key players on the Wall Street stage.

And no Wall Street quant is better known than Emanuel Derman. One of the first high-energy particle physicists to migrate to Wall Street, he spent seventeen years in the business, eventually becoming managing director and head of the renowned Quantitative Strategies group at Goldman, Sachs & Co. There he coauthored some of today’s most widely used and influential financial models.

Physics and quantitative finance look deceptively similar. But, writes Derman, "When you do physics you’re playing against God; in finance, you’re playing against God’s creatures." How can one justify using the precise methods of physics in the frenzied world of financial markets? Is it reasonable to treat the economy and its markets as a complex machine? Or is quantitative finance merely flawed thinking masquerading as science, a brave whistling in the dark?

My Life as a Quant is Derman’s entertaining and candid account of his search for answers as he undergoes his transformation from ambitious young scientist to managing director. His book is simultaneously wide-ranging and personal. He tells the story of his passage between two worlds; he recounts his adventures with physicists, quants, options traders, and other highfliers on Wall Street; he analyzes the incompatible personas of traders and quants; and he meditates on the dissimilar natures of knowledge in physics and finance. Throughout his tale, he reflects on the appropriate way to apply the refined methods of physics to the hurly-burly world of markets.

My Life as a Quant is a unique first-person story and a perceptive and revealing exploration of the quantitative side of Wall Street.

From the Back Cover:
Praise for My Life as a Quant

"My Life as a Quant, by Emanuel Derman is, indeed, a perfect memoir, as Derman, a South African–born physicist turned financial engineer, is a perfect memoirist." --Grant's Interest Rate Observer

"That sense of being an intruder in outlaw territory lends an intriguing mood to Derman's My Life as a Quant, a literate and entertaining memoir."--BusinessWeek

"Derman's memoir of his transition from mathematical physicist to expert finance whiz at Goldman Sachs and Salomon Brothers reads like a novel, but tells a lot about brains applied to making money grow."--Paul A. Samuelson, MIT, Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences, 1970

"Elegantly written by a gifted observer who was a pioneering member of the new profession of financial engineering with an evident affection both for finance as a science and for the scientists who practice it. Derman's portrait of how the academics brought their new financial science to the world of business and his descriptions of the late and extraordinary genius Fischer Black who became his mentor, reveal a surprising humanity where it might be least expected."--Stephen Ross, Franco Modigliani Professor of Finance and Economics, Sloan School, MIT

" a deep and elegant exploration by a thinker who moved from the hardest of all sciences (physics) to the softest of the soft (finance). Derman is a different class of thinker... I know of no other book that bridges the two cultures."--Nassim Taleb, author of The Black Swan and Fooled by Randomness

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

  • PublisherWiley
  • Publication date2016
  • ISBN 10 0470192739
  • ISBN 13 9780470192733
  • BindingPaperback
  • Edition number1
  • Number of pages304
  • Rating

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9780471394204: My Life as a Quant: Reflections on Physics and Finance

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  ISBN 13:  9780471394204
Publisher: Wiley, 2004
Hardcover

Top Search Results from the AbeBooks Marketplace

Stock Image

Emanuel Derman
Published by Wiley (2007)
ISBN 10: 0470192739 ISBN 13: 9780470192733
New Paperback Quantity: 2
Seller:
upickbook
(Daly City, CA, U.S.A.)

Book Description Paperback. Condition: New. Seller Inventory # mon0000146156

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 10.00
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 4.49
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Seller Image

Derman, Emanuel
Published by Wiley (2016)
ISBN 10: 0470192739 ISBN 13: 9780470192733
New Soft Cover Quantity: 10
Seller:
booksXpress
(Bayonne, NJ, U.S.A.)

Book Description Soft Cover. Condition: new. Seller Inventory # 9780470192733

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 17.38
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Seller Image

Derman, Emanuel
Published by Wiley (2016)
ISBN 10: 0470192739 ISBN 13: 9780470192733
New Softcover Quantity: 5
Seller:
GreatBookPrices
(Columbia, MD, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. Seller Inventory # 5197870-n

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 14.98
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 2.64
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Emanuel Derman
Published by John Wiley and Sons (2016)
ISBN 10: 0470192739 ISBN 13: 9780470192733
New Softcover Quantity: > 20
Seller:
INDOO
(Avenel, NJ, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. Brand New. Seller Inventory # 0470192739

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 13.67
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 3.99
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Seller Image

Derman, Emanuel
Published by John Wiley & Sons 1/11/2016 (2016)
ISBN 10: 0470192739 ISBN 13: 9780470192733
New Paperback or Softback Quantity: 5
Seller:
BargainBookStores
(Grand Rapids, MI, U.S.A.)

Book Description Paperback or Softback. Condition: New. My Life as a Quant: Reflections on Physics and Finance 0.8. Book. Seller Inventory # BBS-9780470192733

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 18.13
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Derman, Emanuel
Published by Wiley (2016)
ISBN 10: 0470192739 ISBN 13: 9780470192733
New Softcover Quantity: > 20
Seller:
Lakeside Books
(Benton Harbor, MI, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. Brand New! Not Overstocks or Low Quality Book Club Editions! Direct From the Publisher! We're not a giant, faceless warehouse organization! We're a small town bookstore that loves books and loves it's customers! Buy from Lakeside Books!. Seller Inventory # OTF-S-9780470192733

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 14.44
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 3.99
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Derman, Emanuel
Published by Wiley (2016)
ISBN 10: 0470192739 ISBN 13: 9780470192733
New Softcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Ergodebooks
(Houston, TX, U.S.A.)

Book Description Softcover. Condition: New. 1. In My Life as a Quant, Emanuel Derman relives his exciting journey as one of the first high-energy particle physicists to migrate to Wall Street. Page by page, Derman details his adventures in this field-analyzing the incompatible personas of traders and quants, and discussing the dissimilar nature of knowledge in physics and finance. Throughout this tale, he also reflects on the appropriate way to apply the refined methods of physics to the hurly-burly world of markets. Seller Inventory # DADAX0470192739

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 19.73
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Derman, Emanuel
Published by Wiley (2016)
ISBN 10: 0470192739 ISBN 13: 9780470192733
New Softcover Quantity: > 20
Seller:
Lucky's Textbooks
(Dallas, TX, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. Seller Inventory # ABLIING23Feb2215580219257

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 17.57
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 3.99
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Derman, Emanuel
Published by Wiley (2016)
ISBN 10: 0470192739 ISBN 13: 9780470192733
New Softcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Books Unplugged
(Amherst, NY, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. Buy with confidence! Book is in new, never-used condition. Seller Inventory # bk0470192739xvz189zvxnew

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 22.00
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Derman, Emanuel
Published by Wiley (2016)
ISBN 10: 0470192739 ISBN 13: 9780470192733
New Paperback Quantity: > 20
Seller:
Save With Sam
(North Miami, FL, U.S.A.)

Book Description Paperback. Condition: New. Brand New!. Seller Inventory # 0470192739

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 22.08
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds

There are more copies of this book

View all search results for this book