OVERVIEW

The Encyclopedia of Actuarial Science presents a timely and comprehensive body of knowledge designed to serve as an essential reference for the actuarial profession and all related business and financial activities, as well as researchers and students in actuarial science and related areas.

Drawing on the experience of leading international editors and authors from industry and academic research, the encyclopedia provides an authoritative exposition of both quantitative methods and practical aspects of actuarial science and insurance.

The cross-disciplinary nature of the work is reflected not only in its coverage of key concepts from business, economics, insurance mathematics, finance, risk theory, probability theory and statistics, plus the inclusion of supporting topics such as demography, genetics, operations research and informatics.

Published in October 2004, the Encyclopedia of Actuarial Science will prove an invaluable resource for practitioners, researchers and students in this complex and challenging field.

  EDITORIAL INTRODUCTION

Scholars from practice as well as from academia have long felt the need for a comprehensive reference work such as The Encyclopedia of Actuarial Science. In its broadest sense Actuarial Science is concerned with the construction and verification of models and solutions for financial, business and societal problems involving uncertain future events like accidents, fires, deaths etc. The encyclopedia draws together the quantitative methods and practical aspects of the insurance and actuarial sciences.

Our initial action has been to draw up a list of topics, divided into 12 main sections. Our search for section editors has been a most gratifying experience and their enthusiasm only increased our excitement about the project. As the list of topics was preliminary, the section editors have played a crucial role in its adaptation and improvement. From then on the search for some 500 authors began. The web site contains details of the final outcome of this large scale endeavor.

The encyclopedia provides wide coverage of theoretical and practical aspects of insurance and actuarial science. The contributions, even the more mathematically demanding are usually sufficiently accessible such that the less mathematically adept reader can gain insight into the topics discussed. The articles also contain citations to the scientific literature, are fully cross-referenced, refer to other relevant articles in the encyclopedia and include detailed bibliographies for further reading. The scope and breadth of the encyclopedia will make it an invaluable resource for the professional, the academic researcher and the student in this rapidly growing area. In addition it will serve a useful purpose for those with a more passing interest, providing a quick insight into the subject.

We would also greatly appreciate notification of any remaining errors – technical, factual or typographic in order that we will be able to correct them in any future editions or on-line versions. Please forward any such comments to the email address [email protected]




 

 

 
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