Here's the Zurich Orchestra and you've never SEEN them before...
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
George Johnson's "The Ten Most Beautiful Experiments"
I did not find this book as compelling as I had hoped. He met expectations in terms of arcane details and interesting facts. But I didn't find the stories compelling and I didn't get a feel that the book as a whole satisfied. These are just ten snapshots done with interesting details, but I didn't come away feeling I had learned any great insight into physics, these scientists, or any larger picture. It was entertaining but not enough to recommend it. I've enjoyed other books by George Johnson, so I was disappointed with this one. Maybe I'm just getting crotchety as I get older. Maybe I know "too much" for these tales to be riveting. Maybe I just plain expected too much. I don't know. I would recommend it as a read for somebody who is between high school science and college. But if you've had university level science classes, this book is too much cute historical detail and not enough meat-and-potatoes science.
Augusten Burroughs' "Running with Scissors"
The story of a young gay kid raised in a dysfunctional family, pawned off to a dysfunctional doctor's family, and involved in a number of dysfunctional relationships. It should be unremittingly grim, but he writes it with a bit of humour and a lightness that makes the story tolerable. Apparantly this is a very honest account. I've read his brother's autobiography, Look Me in the Eye by John Elder Robison. The two share a quirky personality. But they are at two extremes otherwise. Robison suffers Asperger's Syndrome but manages to succeed admirably in normal society. Burroughs is flamingly gay and unable to cope in normal society. They both tell horrible tales of abuse at the hands of mentally disturbed parents.The book is a good read. It does show how a person can succeed despite crushingly bad circumstances, so it can be used to raise hope. It certainly lets those of us with more normal lives to say "Thank God but there go I".
Monday, June 2, 2008
Inside a Collapse
Here is a good accounting in the NY Times of how the Bear Stearns collapse occurred. I find it fascinating because it shows that management is out of touch with the workers on the floor. I'm not surprised. I worked in a small-to-medium size corporation and saw the same thing.
Part 1 -
Part 1 -
False Professionalism
This is yet another post by me against models. It isn't that I'm a wacko. I worked with models for predicting computer performance and know their limitations.
Here is an essay pointing out how economists and financial professionals are misled by their models for risk. Read the article if you want the details. The humourous intro to the article provides the essential insight:
Here is an essay pointing out how economists and financial professionals are misled by their models for risk. Read the article if you want the details. The humourous intro to the article provides the essential insight:
A well-known American economist, drafted during World War II to work in the US Army meteorological service in England, got a phone call from a general in May 1944 asking for the weather forecast for Normandy in early June. The economist replied that it was impossible to forecast weather that far into the future. The general wholeheartedly agreed but nevertheless needed the number now for planning purposes.
Similar logic lies at the heart of the current crisis.
Statistical modelling increasingly drives decision-making in the financial system while at the same time significant questions remain about model reliability and whether market participants trust these models. If we ask practitioners, regulators, or academics what they think of the quality of the statistical models underpinning pricing and risk analysis, their response is frequently negative. At the same time, many of these same individuals have no qualms about an ever-increasing use of models, not only for internal risk control but especially for the assessment of systemic risk and therefore the regulation of financial institutions. To have numbers seems to be more important than whether the numbers are reliable. This is a paradox. How can we simultaneously mistrust models and advocate their use?
Saturday, May 31, 2008
John Elder Robison's "Look Me in the Eye"
This autobiography provides a stark -- yet humourous -- perspective on Asperger's syndrome. Some details of his childhood are grim, but he has a quirky personality that spices the book in a way that keeps it interesting. You can feel his personality (and condition) as you read the story. He both tells you and exhibits it through the prose.I've enjoyed reading several books on Autistic Spectrum Disorder, e.g. the books by Temple Grandin and Donna Williams's book (Nobody Nowhere and Somebody Somewhere).
Inside View of Wall Street Collapse
Here is a series of three articles in the Wall Street Journal that provide an inside view of the collapse of Bear Stearns:
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