contributed

Ars Recte Vivendi; Being Essays Contributed to "The Easy Chair" (Dodo Press)
$12.99
George William Curtis (1824-1892) was an American writer and public speaker, born in Rhode Island, of old New England stock. In 1850 he returned to the US after four years travelling in Europe, attractive, accomplished, and ambitious for literary distinction. He settled on Staten Island and instantly plunged into the whirl of life in New York, obtained a post on the Tribune, became a popular lecturer, started work on Nile Notes of a Howadji (1851), and became a favourite in society. He wrote for Putnam's Magazine, and a number of volumes, composed of essays written for that publication and for Harper's Monthly, came in rapid succession from his pen. The chief of these were The Potiphar Papers (1853), a satire on the fashionable society of the day; and Prue and I (1856), a pleasantly sentimental, fancifully tender and humourous study of life. In 1863 he became the political editor of Harper's Weekly. From month to month he contributed to Harper's Monthly, under the title of "The Easy Chair, " brief essays on topics of social and literary interest.

Broadway Through the Gramophone, Vol. 2
$34.98
An essential collection for libraries and archives. Many of these shows have never been recorded in any other format but these light opera company medleys of "vocal gems." These antique 78-RPM discs are the predecessors of today's original cast recordings.

The years covered in this set show how European style operettas wer slowly giving way to a more jazz-oriented American musical comedy style. Victor Herbert, Jerome Kern, and Sigmund Romberg (among others) were setting the stage for the modern American musical.

Listeners should be aware that all the recordings in this set date from the "acoustic" period of recording and have limited range. The metal horns that collected the sound and cut it into wax discs were not ideal for soloists and worked best with brass and percussion. The shellac surfaces of the pressed records had a hissing sound and the steel needles often distorted the music. The few pressings that have survived in playable condition are gathered here, but be aware these are recordings nearly 100 years old!

Those I haven't daunted are in for a treat, for once you get past the antique sound you discover a wealth or musical material and a glimpse into a Broadway very different from what it would eventually become.

Life Insurance Mathematics, 3rd Edition With Exercises Contributed by Samuel H. Cox
$69.95
"Life Insurance Mathematics" is not a bad introductory book for student actuaries. This is a well set out, reasonably well explained book that covers the basic areas of this topic, including: compound interest mathematics; life tables; insurance and annuity functions; premium and reserve calculations; multiple decrements and multiple life functions.

The biggest problem with this book, is that it's just not detailed enough. At only 217 pages, the author barely has time to cover all of the topics that I just mentioned. I teach a unit in Life Insurance Mathematics and the things that my students are always asking for are examples and exercises. There are no worked examples in this text at all (although there are is reasonably large number of exercises, with solutions, in one of the appendices). Furthermore, this book only touches on the basics of Life Insurance math. It does not cover increasing annuities/insurances at all.

This is one of the better books on Life Insurance Mathematics, but only because the other books that are available aren't very good either.