Being a novice to financial quantitative mathematics, I find this book a good, but a pretty heavy introduction. Depending on the level of mathematical background that you are coming from, you may find having an alternative math reference and detailed financial concepts reference very handy, when reading this book.Personally, I find this book complement very well with other texts that are more descriptive on the business aspects, such as John C Hull’s book. The approach of this book to mathematical treatment is very direct, and to a large degree unsympathetic, in that it assumes your familiarity with the engineering calculus, probability and statistics, and do not waste time repeating them. Consequently, you really must have am alternative text handy for maths, where necessary: The essential pre-requisites being, solution of linear partial differential equations (especially parabolic equations), integration techniques, basic probability theory, and statistical maths.
Although I am still in the process of grasping more advanced concepts, I see this book to be a good reference to the readers who are more experienced in financial mathematics. (Or you may also opt for the “non-student” version of this book, which includes advanced topics, but at a considerably more expensive price.)
Highly recommended to the readers who are keen on delving to the details of quantitative mathematics, who are ready to be first bewildered by their intricacies, and then be patient enough to understand the mathematical treatment from alternative math texts, and finally to relate the business concepts treated in other text, such as John C Hull’s. It’s definitely not a light read, but I think is a very good investment upfront indeed.
