Commercial Umbrella

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Commercial Umbrella
Dearborn Financial Services
Manufacturer: Kaplan Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0793192692

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Analysis of commercial general, umbrella, and excess liability forms (The Attorney's umbrella book)

Manufacturer: Griffin Communications, Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Private Law | Law | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0941360032

Book Description

In recent years, there has been a great deal of interest and activity in the general area of nonparametric smoothing in statistics. This monograph concentrates on the roughness penalty method and shows how this technique provides a unifying approach to a wide range of smoothing problems. The method allows parametric assumptions to be realized in regression problems, in those approached by generalized linear modelling, and in many other contexts. The emphasis throughout is methodological rather than theoretical, and it concentrates on statistical and computation issues. Real data examples are used to illustrate the various methods and to compare them with standard parametric approaches. Some publicly available software is also discussed. The mathematical treatment is self-contained and depends mainly on simple linear algebra and calculus. This monograph will be useful both as a reference work for research and applied statisticians and as a text for graduate students and other encountering the material for the first time.

Local Polynomial Modelling and Its Applications (MONOGRAPHS ON STATISTICS AND APPLIED PROBABILITY)

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Local Polynomial Modelling and Its Applications (MONOGRAPHS ON STATISTICS AND APPLIED PROBABILITY)
Jianqing Fan , and Irene Gijbels
Manufacturer: Chapman & Hall/CRC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0412983214

Book Description

Data-analytic approaches to regression problems, arising from many scientific disciplines are described in this book. The aim of these nonparametric methods is to relax assumptions on the form of a regression function and to let data search for a suitable function that describes the data well. The use of these nonparametric functions with parametric techniques can yield very powerful data analysis tools. Local polynomial modeling and its applications provides an up-to-date picture on state-of-the-art nonparametric regression techniques. The emphasis of the book is on methodologies rather than on theory, with a particular focus on applications of nonparametric techniques to various statistical problems. High-dimensional data-analytic tools are presented, and the book includes a variety of examples. This will be a valuable reference for research and applied statisticians, and will serve as a textbook for graduate students and others interested in nonparametric regression.

Smoothing and Regression: Approaches, Computation, and Application

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Smoothing and Regression: Approaches, Computation, and Application

Manufacturer: Wiley-Interscience
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0471179469

Book Description

A comprehensive introduction to a wide variety of univariate and multivariate smoothing techniques for regression

Smoothing and Regression: Approaches, Computation, and Application bridges the many gaps that exist among competing univariate and multivariate smoothing techniques. It introduces, describes, and in some cases compares a large number of the latest and most advanced techniques for regression modeling. Unlike many other volumes on this topic, which are highly technical and specialized, this book discusses all methods in light of both computational efficiency and their applicability for real data analysis.

Using examples of applications from the biosciences, environmental sciences, engineering, and economics, as well as medical research and marketing, this volume addresses the theory, computation, and application of each approach. A number of the techniques discussed, such as smoothing under shape restrictions or of dependent data, are presented for the first time in book form. Special features of this book include:
* Comprehensive coverage of smoothing and regression with software hints and applications from a wide variety of disciplines
* A unified, easy-to-follow format
* Contributions from more than 25 leading researchers from around the world
* More than 150 illustrations also covering new graphical techniques important for exploratory data analysis and visualization of high-dimensional problems
* Extensive end-of-chapter references

For professionals and aspiring professionals in statistics, applied mathematics, computer science, and econometrics, as well as for researchers in the applied and social sciences, Smoothing and Regression is a unique and important new resource destined to become one the most frequently consulted references in the field.

Applied Nonparametric Regression (Econometric Society Monographs)

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Very clear and readable account of nonparametric regression

Applied Nonparametric Regression (Econometric Society Monographs)
Wolfgang Härdle
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Econometrics | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0521429501

Book Description

Applied Nonparametric Regression brings together in one place the techniques for regression curve smoothing involving more than one variable. The computer and the development of interactive graphics programs has made curve estimation popular. This volume focuses on the applications and practical problems of two central aspects of curve smoothing: the choice of smoothing parameters and the construction of confidence bounds. The methods covered in this text have numerous applications in many areas using statistical analysis. Examples are drawn from economics--such as the estimation of Engel curves--as well as other disciplines including medicine and engineering. For practical applications of these methods a computing environment for exploratory Regression--XploRe--is described.

Customer Reviews:

Very clear and readable account of nonparametric regression.......2001-04-11

This book deals with nonparametric regression, mainly kernel regression, though other estimators are also covered. This is a very clear and succinct discussion of the theory and application of this very important area of modern statistics. This book is one of the first few books on the subject (I saw a preprint of this book while a graduate student and bought a copy when it first appeared). Kernel estimators are known to be less efficient and suffer from boundary effects when the underlying regression is very smooth (twice differentiable). Local polynomial regression is the natural remedy and has experienced rapid developments in last 10 years. Fan and Gijbel's book in 1996 has detailed discussions on local polynomial estimation, an area which I also publish a few papers. But this book still contains substantial materials not found elsewhere. For example, this book has excellent discussion of nonparametric methods in econometric applications. I highly recommend it for its good introduction and as a valuable reference book on this subject.

Nonparametric Regression and Spline Smoothing, Second Edition (STATISTICS: TEXTBOOKS AND MONOGRAPHS)

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Nonparametric Regression and Spline Smoothing, Second Edition (STATISTICS: TEXTBOOKS AND MONOGRAPHS)
Randall L. Eubank
Manufacturer: CRC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0824793374

Book Description

Provides a unified account of the most popular approaches to nonparametric regression smoothing. This edition contains discussions of boundary corrections for trigonometric series estimators; detailed asymptotics for polynomial regression; testing goodness-of-fit; estimation in partially linear models; practical aspects, problems and methods for confidence intervals and bands; local polynomial regression; and form and asymptotic properties of linear smoothing splines.

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Applied Nonparametric Regression
Wolfgang Hardle
Manufacturer: Cambridge Univ Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000K3UQMY

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Applied Nonparametric Regression
Wolfgang Hardle
Manufacturer: Cambridge Univ Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000K3SHUC

Book Description

These lectures contain a masterful summing up of Nicholas Kaldor's critique of the foundations of mainstream economic theory. They provide a very clear account of his theoretical structures on regional differences, primary producers and manufacturers, and on differing market structures and the likely course of prices and quantities in different markets over time. The first four lectures are concerned with theory, history and explanation; the fifth consists of a detailed set of integrated policy proposals.

Book Description

Arnold Schoenberg's close involvement with many of the principal developments of twentieth-century music, most importantly the break with tonality and the creation of twelve-tone composition, generated controversy from the time of his earliest works to the present day. This authoritative new collection of Schoenberg's essays, letters, literary writings, musical sketches, paintings, and drawings offers fresh insights into the composer's life, work, and thought. The documents, many previously unpublished or untranslated, reveal the relationships between various aspects of Schoenberg's activities in composition, music theory, criticism, painting, performance, and teaching. They also show the significance of events in his personal and family life, his evolving Jewish identity, his political concerns, and his close interactions with such figures as Gustav and Alma Mahler, Alban Berg, Wassily Kandinsky, and Thomas Mann. Extensive commentary by Joseph Auner places the documents and materials in context and traces important themes throughout Schoenberg's career from turn-of-century Vienna to Weimar Berlin to nineteen-fifties Los Angeles.

A Schoenberg Reader: Documents of a Life.(Classical Composers)(Book Review): An article from: Notes

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A Schoenberg Reader: Documents of a Life.(Classical Composers)(Book Review): An article from: Notes
Murray Dineen
Manufacturer: Music Library Association, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

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Book Description

This digital document is an article from Notes, published by Music Library Association, Inc. on September 1, 2004. The length of the article is 769 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: A Schoenberg Reader: Documents of a Life.(Classical Composers)(Book Review)
Author: Murray Dineen
Publication: Notes (Refereed)
Date: September 1, 2004
Publisher: Music Library Association, Inc.
Volume: 61 Issue: 1 Page: 130(2)

Article Type: Book Review

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Schoenberg Reader Documents of a Life
Joseph Auner
Manufacturer: YALE UNIV PRESS @
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000N796H8

Book Description

Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy is an annual publication which includes original articles, which may be of substantial length, on a wide range of topics in ancient philosophy, and review articles of major books. Contributors to this volume; Jonathan Barnes, Roger Crisp, T.H. Irwin, Christopher Janaway, Richard J. Ketchum, Voula Tsouna McKirahan, Martha Nussbaum, Dirk Obbink, and Allan Silverman.

Amazon.com's Best of 2001

An individual ant, like an individual neuron, is just about as dumb as can be. Connect enough of them together properly, though, and you get spontaneous intelligence. Web pundit Steven Johnson explains what we know about this phenomenon with a rare lucidity in Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, and Software. Starting with the weird behavior of the semi-colonial organisms we call slime molds, Johnson details the development of increasingly complex and familiar behavior among simple components: cells, insects, and software developers all find their place in greater schemes.

Most game players, alas, live on something close to day-trader time, at least when they're in the middle of a game--thinking more about their next move than their next meal, and usually blissfully oblivious to the ten- or twenty-year trajectory of software development. No one wants to play with a toy that's going to be fun after a few decades of tinkering--the toys have to be engaging now, or kids will find other toys.

Johnson has a knack for explaining complicated and counterintuitive ideas cleverly without stealing the scene. Though we're far from fully understanding how complex behavior manifests from simple units and rules, our awareness that such emergence is possible is guiding research across disciplines. Readers unfamiliar with the sciences of complexity will find Emergence an excellent starting point, while those who were chaotic before it was cool will appreciate its updates and wider scope. --Rob Lightner

Book Description

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK
A VOICE LITERARY SUPPLEMENT TOP 25 FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE YEAR

AN ESQUIRE MAGAZINE BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

In the tradition of Being Digital and The Tipping Point, Steven Johnson, acclaimed as a "cultural critic with a poet's heart" (The Village Voice), takes readers on an eye-opening journey through emergence theory and its applications. Explaining why the whole is sometimes smarter than the sum of its parts, Johnson presents surprising examples of feedback, self-organization, and adaptive learning. How does a lively neighborhood evolve out of a disconnected group of shopkeepers, bartenders, and real estate developers? How does a media event take on a life of its own? How will new software programs create an intelligent World Wide Web?

In the coming years, the power of self-organization -- coupled with the connective technology of the Internet -- will usher in a revolution every bit as significant as the introduction of electricity. Provocative and engaging, Emergence puts you on the front lines of this exciting upheaval in science and thought.

Customer Reviews:

Great start; Unresolved ending; Ultimately disappointing.......2007-08-19

I purchased this book on something of a whim; it was listed as recommended by Amazon and looked like something worth checking out. This is appropriate because software systems that make recommendations based on history and feedback are one of the topics that get discussed in this book. The concept appealed to me for a number of reasons. First, it seemed like a fascinating study of complex systems and the relationship therein between the components, the system as a whole, and that which may be greater then the sum of its parts - that which is emergent. Which in fact, for a while it was. Second, I appreciate the idea that a city is a complex system that is not dissimilar to other complex systems. And third, I felt like taking a chance on something that just sounded interesting. Sadly, after high expectations brought on by a well developed first half, this book ultimately disappoints.

Credit where credit is due, this book starts off as well as a book can. In keeping with the old adage that a picture is worth a thousand words, there is a wonderful illustration at the start of this book featuring a map of Hamburg dated circa 1850 next to a diagram of a human brain. Whether there is ultimately anything to them or not, the similarities are astounding. It really went a long way towards grabbing my attention and making this book one that I looked forward to reading. For half of the book, my expectations were met.

The first three chapters take the seemingly mundane and unrelated topics of ant colonies, computer programs based on slime mold observations, and city layout, and make an effective comparison. Something I really liked early on about this book was its observation that both ant colonies and cities expand with an order that suggests a central plan, when in fact the main force behind their development is the elemental units just doing the things that they do. Soldier and worker ands don't do their jobs because the queen orders them to, they do them because taking care of the queen keeps the colony alive, thus sustaining their existence. Neighborhoods don't spring up because someone issues a decree to build homes, they spring up because people have wants and needs regarding where they live. And their existence in a certain place creates a continuing cycle, almost fractal in nature, of more people with their own set of wants and needs. The concept of evolution is also thrown in, and quite effectively.

I think that the strongest point the book makes is that cities are not just clusters of people, they are patterns in time. Human beings wired the way they are seem predestined to create printing presses, newspapers, radios, communications networks, TV's, and internets. But here lies the problem with this book. This is potentially a great point, and I would argue a correct one. It's just that it comes along right at about the halfway point in the book. And after that there not much else other than words. The first half of this book does what the first half of a book should do, it develops an idea. But the development of an idea needs to lead to some sort of conclusion that contains some sense of resolution. Unfortunately, somewhere shortly after the start of chapter 4, this book lets go of all of the cohesion it so nicely developed and spins into seemingly endless and tired commentary about video games and the web. Moreover, the commentary is not very good, and becomes repetitive. By the last couple of chapters it becomes quite clear the only thing concluded will be that the author thinks that in a few more years something really significant is going to come about from recent technological changes. They always do. That in and of itself is not worth very much. In the author's defense, I did read this book in 2007 and it was written in 2000. But still, a book should say considerably more this one does.

If the second half were as good as the first, this book could have been ground-breaking. I appreciate the first half, so I don't consider it a complete waste. However be prepared for quite a let down - 2 stars.

finger food for the mind.......2006-12-14

This is a pretty good read - it moves quickly and doesn't get you bogged down in the dna of the concept of emergence. go to wikipedia, read it. then pick up a copy of this and it will provide more context and usefulness. while this may not be the 'grand slam' of books...and to some degree it may be viewed as a popular fad topic...this book is better written than many that end up in the waste bend after page 47. if highlighter markings and cryptic notes in the margin are an indicator for me then it is safe to say that i got my money's worth...and...it contributed to my ongoing pondering of this and many other esoteric terms from the science realm.

Emergence - a guide for the future.......2006-11-10

This book is well written and provides an insight to the science of emerergence and how it can help exlain the fundamental texture of everything from ant colonies to cafe-society. It is one of those rare books that readers will benefit from reading many times. For those with a scientific appreciation it fully satisfies while those readers with a more cultural focus will still find it very readable.

The subject matter is highly important and may help create models of better societies in the economically and environmentally challenging years ahead. This book undoubtedly helps us to see a way.

Go To the Ant Thou Sluggard!.......2006-09-24

Uncommon insights into the origin and development of important things. The author shows us how there are lessons all around us if we are clever enough to be watching when they reveal themselves! Shows us that there are patterns in nature and in the human experience that, when uncovered and examined, can prove to be templates for success in our lives.

Provides a decent primer to an increasingly important concept.......2006-09-06

I liked this book. It provides a decent overview of emergent properties in general, and particularly the notion of "intelligence" as an emergent property (e.g., one ant is dumb, many ants togther are smart).

However, this book will disappoint any reader who expects a rigorous or mathematical explanation of these phenomena. All of the various anecdotes are interesting, but they appear held together by only their loose similarity of concept (i.e., they all somehow or other manifest this notion "emergence").

Although this book reads like a collection of similarly themed magazine articles, this is part and parcel with its appeal. Although it may have skimped on the "research" into the fascinating field of emergent properties, it was nevertheless well-written, readable, and interesting.

Although the notion of "Emergent Intelligence" has already been siezed upon by popular culture (e.g., Matrix, video games, internet, and on and on), the diversity and importance of this topic is far from its peak. Therefore, the more people with an understanding of it the better -- even if that understanding falls somewhere short of the Ph.d. level

Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, and Software. (Books: the next next thing).(Review): An article from: American Scholar

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Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, and Software. (Books: the next next thing).(Review): An article from: American Scholar
Alex Soojung-Kim Pang
Manufacturer: Phi Beta Kappa Society
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B0008IE48I
Release Date: 2005-07-28

Book Description

This digital document is an article from American Scholar, published by Phi Beta Kappa Society on September 22, 2001. The length of the article is 2781 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, and Software. (Books: the next next thing).(Review)
Author: Alex Soojung-Kim Pang
Publication: American Scholar (Refereed)
Date: September 22, 2001
Publisher: Phi Beta Kappa Society
Volume: 70 Issue: 4 Page: 138(5)

Article Type: Book Review

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Emergence - Connected Lives Of Ants, Brains, Cities, And Software

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Emergence - Connected Lives Of Ants, Brains, Cities, And Software
Steven Johnson
Manufacturer: Scribner
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000K043GC

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