Advanced Credit Risk Analysis

Book Description

Advanced Credit Analysis presents the latest and most advanced modelling techniques in the theory and practice of credit risk pricing and management.
The book stresses the logic of theoretical models from the structural and the reduced-form kind, their applications and extensions. It shows the mathematical models that help determine optimal collateralisation and marking-to-market policies. It looks at modern credit risk management tools and the current structuring techniques available with credit derivatives.

Customer Reviews:

Very helpful.......2007-08-09

The reduced form and structural credit models have been the most popular ones for the pricing of credit sensitive securities and for the estimation of default probabilities and are clearly discussed in this book, along with many other topics of interest to those responsible for the mathematical modeling of credit risk and/or interest rates. The book can be read by anyone with a background in the theory of stochastic processes and those interested in mathematical finance as applied to credit risk will find the book interesting. Only Part I of this book was read by this reviewer.

In order to price a credit sensitive security one needs to be able to calculate default probabilities and be able to construct models of the risk-free interest rate and the recovery rates. One will also need to model the risk premium that investors will require when entering into a credit risk agreement. Lastly, one will need to model the correlations between defaults in the entities that make up a portfolio.

In the structural models of credit, the modeler assumes certain information on the time-dependence of the assets of a firm and its capital structure, and one thinks of the liabilities of the firm as an option on the assets of the firm. In a reduced form model, the time dependence of default is taken to be dependent on exogenous factors via a default rate, and the price of the credit security is calculated using an interest rate modulated by this default rate.

The most well known structural model is the Merton model, which introduced early on in this book, and wherein corporate liabilities are taken to be contingent claims on the assets of a firm. Credit risk arises solely from the uncertainty regarding the market value of the firm. Default probabilities are calculated by assuming that the value of the firm's assets over time is governed by geometric Brownian motion (the authors call this Ito dynamics in this book). Now if the firm has a market value of V (representing the expected discounted future cash flows of the firm), and assuming that the firm is financed by equity and a zero coupon bond with face value F and maturity date T, then taking default to mean that V falls below F, the probability of such a default can be expressed in terms of the standard normal distribution function. The authors show this explicitly in chapter three of the book, and this derivation is of no surprise to those familiar with standard (Black-Scholes) options theory. The payoff for the investors is then equivalent to that of a portfolio consisting of a default-free bond with face value F maturing at T and a European put option on the assets of the firm with strike price F and maturity T. The authors also consider the value of the equity, which is equivalent to the payoff of a European call option on the assets of the firm with strike price F and maturity T. They also show, interestingly, that the values for the equity and the debt depend on the leverage ratio of the firm, but that their sum does not, the latter of which is taken to be an assumption in the Merton model. The market value of the firm is thus independent of its leverage. Defining the credit spread as the difference between the yield on a defaultable bond and the yield on an equivalent default-free zero bond, the authors derive an explicit expression for this quantity.

In a reduced-form model, the default dynamics is prescribed exogenously using a default rate or intensity, and the question now is how to calibrate the intensity to market prices, rather than being concerned with firm default. The default process is actually a jump process, with a jump of size one at default, and has an upward trend. Using standard results from the theory of stochastic processes, the upward trend can be compensated for, with the result that the default time will become unpredictable. In contrast to structural models, the default losses in reduced-form models are expressed in terms of the expected reduction in market value that occurs at default. As in most theories of pricing in the theory of contingent claims, use is made of the concept of a `risk-neutral measure' in reduced-form models. If one thinks of this measure in terms of an arbitrage-free market, then it is straightforward to understand: it is a probability measure in which the present price of a contingent claim is equal to the expected value the future payoff discounted at the risk-free rate. Such a measure is also called an `equivalent martingale measure' in the literature on financial modeling. Given the hazard rate for default at any time and the expected fractional loss in market value if there is a default at this time, then in one of these reduced-form models, called the Duffie-Singleton model, the contingent claim can be priced as if it were default-free. This is done by replaced the short-term interest rate with a default-adjusted short-rate process, called the `risk-neutral mean-loss rate' due to default. The risk-neutral mean-loss rate can be written as the sum of a short-term rate and a credit risk premium, and is time-dependent. Most interesting is that using this rate, one can price the claim as if it were riskless. The present value of the contingent claim is then obtained by discounting using the adjusted short rate, and takes into account the probability and time of default, and the effect of losses on default.

The authors devote a fair amount of pages on the Duffie-Singleton model, the crucial idea of course being the identification of the credit risk premium. The model concentrates on three variables, namely a risk-neutral probability of default at time t on a short time interval that is conditional on no prior default up to t, a `recovery' amount measured in dollars if there is a default at time t, and the riskfree short-term interest rate at t. The market value of the claim at time t can be written as the sum of the present value of receiving the recovery amount (at t + 1) if default occurs, or the market value (at t + 1) otherwise. The challenge lies in calculating this sum since the three variables are entangled. The strategy for dealing with this is to use what Duffie and Singleton called a `recovery-of-market-value' or RMV. The recovery amount is taken to be a fraction of the market value of the contract, and inserting this in the sum allows it to be greatly simplified, as the authors show. Assuming a continuous-time framework, they write the risk-neutral mean-loss rate and the claim in terms of an underlying state variable that obeys a stochastic Weiner process, and using the Feynman-Kac formula show that the price at time zero satisfies a backward Kolmogorov partial differential equation. This is then generalized to the case where the underlying variable follows a jump-diffusion process.

Extremely interesting but quite technical (useful errata).......2001-07-17

I enjoyed this book. It goes over many of the credit risk theories that I had only heard of or skimmed through before. The presentation is very clear and successful. Some typos at the beginning of the book are too bad but the errata on the author's web site is useful, especially for the chapter on Merton. The book seems very complete and very detailed, much more than the other books around. A very useful addition, especially with the available errata for the typos concentrated at the beginning. I believe our current credit risk systems are so out of date with the advanced theories as presented in the book... Things will change...

Easily the Best Credit Risk Book: A Must!.......2001-04-17

This is easily the best credit risk book there is! It is the only book that covers all the theories available. It is well written and covers both the maths and the intuitions. It is up to date too. While the book targets sophisticated readers, it covers more of the ground than any other book I have seen around (and goes much more in depth than any competitor). It is great to finally have a book that goes through the maze of the theories on credit risk.

Interesting, but full of errors.......2001-02-17

The recent developments in credit-risk analysis have been highly quantitative and theoretical. Hugues Pirotte & Didier Cossin provide a comprehensive overview of the most popular credit risk models. Their purpose is to allow practitioners to apply quantitative modeling to this complex area. I think that it is a quite good book: easy to read, clear for most of its explanations but I found too many mistakes in mathematical formulas. The editor could have been more careful with the reader's comfort. On the downside: the chapter on swap credit risk (a model from the authors) is so pretentious that it becomes very irritating and actually damages the quality of the book. In addition, no disk with source code!

Revision, please!.......2001-02-15

The book does a good job in presenting some credit risk models, although it is far from being exhaustive. However, if you are looking for technical details, you best bets are still the original published papers, given the numerous typos. My suggestion: wait for the revised edition!

Advanced Credit Risk Analysis: Financial Approaches and Mathematical Models to Assess

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Advanced Credit Risk Analysis: Financial Approaches and Mathematical Models to Assess
Didier Cossin
Manufacturer: Halsted Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Risk Assessment | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Book Description

Credit Risk measurement and management has undergone revolutionary changes in the last few years, with both banks and investors having to look at and re-evaluate their approach to credit risk. This new edition will highlight the new areas of interest in credit risk analysis and will contain new or expanded chapters on credit derivatives, sovereign risk, portfolio management and optimisation, regulatory issues etc. It will also reflect the new developments in both theory and practice that have arisen since the first edition was published.

Advanced Credit Risk Analysis - Financial Approaches & Mathematical Models to Assess, Price & Manage Credit Risk

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Advanced Credit Risk Analysis - Financial Approaches & Mathematical Models to Assess, Price & Manage Credit Risk
DIDIER PIROTTE, HUGUES COSSIN
Manufacturer: JOHN WILEY AND SONS LTD
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000N5DML6

Book Description

Streamline the processes vital to optimum performance

With over 100,000 copies sold worldwide, Improving Performance is recognized as the book that launched the Process Improvement revolution. It was the first such approach to bridge the gap between organization strategy and the individual. Now, in this revised and expanded new edition, Rummler and Brache reflect on the key needs of organizations faced with today's challenge of managing change. With multiple charts, checklists, hands-on tools and case studies, the authors show how they implemented their Performance Improvement methodology in over 250 successful projects with clients such as Hewlett-Packard, 3M, Shell Oil, and Citibank.

Customer Reviews:

Best Process Book Ever.......2006-11-10

This book presents some interesting concepts on Process Design and Performance.

The best business improvement book ever written.......2006-10-28

Don't let the date this book was published influence your decision to buy - it is timeless. I am on my second copy of this book and would characterize it as the best book on business process management that has ever been published. This is "The Book". Everyone I know in the Business Process Management field has this book. I recommend it to every client and every business improvement team member that I work with.

The information contained in this "gem" can help anyone involved in process improvement. Consultants, executives, managers, process team leaders, process team members - it doesn't matter whether you are working in manufacturing, finance, logistics, sales or human resources. It also doesn't matter whether you are new to BPM or have been in the field for 20 years. This book will change the way you think about organizational structure and approaching business process.

Trying to characterize what parts of the book were best, would be like trying to dissect what parts of the blue sky you like best. It is all great stuff - each chapter is better than the next, and will help you understand what needs to be done to make business improvement initiatives work. It is well written, easy to understand the concepts, with hundreds of useful illustrations and models to learn from.

I would give this book 6 stars if I could ...

Classic.......2006-04-09

This book will survive the trends, since most of the trends are based on the principles in this book. The names will change (Quality Circles, Just In Time, TQM, Re-engineering, Six Sigma, ...), but these principles and how well they are implemented will determine a companies' efficiency and quality.

Simply the best of "Best Practices" - Invaluable.......2005-08-06

As a business process and systems analyst, I have used the techniques in this book extensively to document existing and proposed processes and systems.

The diagramming techniques ensure thorough identification of all relevant interfaces and will assist in identifying those frustrating and toxic business processes that defy verbal description, but once diagrammed, seem to become clearly understood. I cannot count how many "Ah-ha" moments I have seen when confused managers, too deep in the trees to be able to see the whole forest, finally see the problems with their business laid out in clear pictures drawn with the techniques taught in this book.

Best companion for process improvement.......2004-06-28

This is by far the first book that dealt with process improvement and change from all angles. This book provides examples that will help the novice in preparing and implementing change. Packed with examples and worksheets to guide the reader thru the whole process. However, since it was written in 1995, this book does not cover prevailing technologies but is still useful in understanding the foundations for change. If you are looking to implement business process change/improvement, read this book in conjunction with a more recent book by Paul Harmon "Business Process Change" who happens to be a student of Mr. Rummler. Paul Harmon's book cover such topics as CMM and Six Sigma when implementing process change.

Book Description

Why, today, would anyone undertake a plan to launch a spacecraft some 30 years in the future, and on a journey that would take some 40 years to complete? Paul Gilster investigates the science, and the spirit, of the NASA and JPL researchers who are actually at work on just such a project. From the reviews: "Gilster introduces the challenges of imagining and planning interstellar exploration by leading readers through the difficulties of reaching and exploring the nearest bright star, Alpha Centauri. Seeded by ideas and concepts of the late Robert Forward, the narrative is framed as a learning process undertaken simultaneously by writer and reader. Although Alpha Centauri is astronomically nearby, a postulated trip by robot spacecraft, followed by manned exploration, would take 50 to 1,000 years, depending on the type of spacecraft propulsion used. Various methods for interstellar travel are introduced and discussed, including solar sails that use the power of starlight, nuclear fusion, antimatter hybrid systems, and beamed laser propulsion. One challenge is to get there in a reasonable time so that funding support, public interest, and events on Earth will not divert attention from the mission. Another challenge is timing the mission relative to available technology, because with better technology it might be possible to send a later robot on the same mission in less time. The book has no figures, tables, or illustrations but does include 30 pages of notes and an adequate 14-page index. Though the concepts presented are often fanciful, this book will appeal to readers who wonder about the future of exploration beyond the solar system. Summing Up: Highly recommended. General readers; professionals." (W. E. Howard III, CHOICE, March 2005)

Customer Reviews:

I don't like these sorts of books but that is just me.......2007-05-05

What we have here is a reporter that is surveying what many scientist and engineers are planning for a spaceship to the closest stars based on current technology.

If your interested in this subject, don't want any mathematics or diagrams and don't want to get much into theory but have the reassurance that this is at least theoretical real and not fiction then this book is for you.

Probing and Fun Trek Into the Stars.......2007-01-06

Centauri Dreams was a fun book for the futurist some time ago. The book enables the reader to let go into the future and think about interstellar space travel. The book is well structured and enlightening to the non-scientist and non-engineer. The technologies the author discusses are being researched but the practical applications will be years, decades, perhaps centuries, into the future for travel outside of the solar system --- even if we do now have a structured human effort to find an Earth-like planets outside of our solar system. The book has an associated blog that is fun too and has caused me to reflect upon the book from time-to-time. I recommend the book if you want to sit back and think about how your great-great grand children will cross the Milky Way Galaxy with a dash of realism and a dash of science fiction. Every great adventure begins with a map. This book is a creative map into the future of space travel.

Wicked cool........2006-12-06

I like that I have finally found a book that discusses interstellar travel in serious, but very readable way. It isn't too heavy on jargon, but gives you just enough to not make you feel like the book was dumbed down. I highly recommend this book as a purchase. The only reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 is I have some quibbles on the pacing and structure of the book. Chapters sometimes seem to end abruptly with no warning, and he occassionally gets a bit too chatty, but these are minor quibbles.

Space Exploration To A Star, Is Anyone Out There?.......2005-07-10

NASA has a plan to send an unmarked craft (a possible robotic probe) to the Centari triple-star system. Because of the distance and inability to transmit back and forth messages, if the craft reaches its destination, which will take 40 years, the 4 yr. wait between messages is a long time to wait. Yet, those working on this project are optimistic about the importance and eventual success of their work. So far, it is only in the imagining and planning stages.

You can see these stars in the morning sky at the autumn equinox. Centuri A comes the closest to appearing like our sun, more than three times brighter than B, which is loosely connected to A. Alpha Centuri C (Proxima) is a small red dwarf which has periodic flares; it could very easily be just a passing star, not bound to the other two.

Astronomers have yet to make a valid claim that it is 'triple.' Recent studies show that Prosima is younger and independent -- a star just passing near A & B. The installation of a new device in March, 2002, called ACS (Advanced Camera for Surveys) aboard the Hubble Space Telescope can perhaps show whether Alpha Centuri has planets.

What we are searching for is to find another Earth-like planet 'somewhere out there' in space. Will we ever stop wondering "Is anyone intelligent (besides ET) out there for us to communicate with?" If so, they will be so far ahead of us intellectually that they won't be able to understand us, and vice versa. A new James E. Webb Space Telescope will be launched in 2011 to replace the Hubble which wasn't exactly what they had expected it to be even after the correction of the lens.

Good analysis but one glaring omission.......2005-04-08

Gilster did an excellent job researching and describing various methods of interstellar propulsion, communications and AI. Life support systems got relatively little space because the book is mostly (although not entirely) about unmanned interstellar probes rather than manned starships. However, I found one omission very jarring -- total absence of any consideration of increasing human lifespan.

There are two ways to get some place very far during one's lifetime: 1) go very fast; 2) live a very long time. Gilster points out that a multi-decade (let alone a multi-century) interstellar probe will by necessity be a relay effort, with younger researchers inheriting the project from the older ones. He also laments the modern society's short attention span and calls for resurrection of midaeval outlook, when many generations would spend their entire lifetimes on projects like cathedrals. He does not seem to realize that this problem can be solved by a fairly modest increases in human lifespan, while true defeat of aging would make interstellar travel possible with TODAY's technology (almost).

And like it or not, the amount of research currently put into geriatrics, biotechnology and life extension is enormous, absolutely dwarfing the research into advanced propulsion, or even all space technologies put together. I would bet more than even money that by the time it will be possible to send a probe to the nearest star at 2% the speed of light (200 year trip), people sending the probe on its way will expect to still be around when it arrives to its destination. And incidentally, that would take care of Gilster's other lament -- lack of long-term thinking. For someone who truly does not age can't afford NOT to think in long term. If ice caps are going to melt in 100 years, if an asteroid will hit Earth in a millenium, if Sun blows up into red giant in 5,000,000,000 years, it all becomes MY problem, and I have to do something about it. That is truly unprecedented in human history, and must be taken into account by anyone who seriously considers the future.

Book Description

Introduction to Biochemical Toxicology
Third Edition
Over the past several decades, biochemical toxicology has contributed greatly to the advancement of scientific disciplines ranging from medicine and pharmacology to environmental science and industrial hygiene. In its never-ending quest to define the biochemical, cellular, and molecular events occurring when toxicants interact with organisms, biochemical toxicology provides the rational basis for, among other things, our understanding of acute and chronic toxic processes, the development of new therapies, the determination of toxic hazards, and the development of medical and agricultural biocides.
Recent applications of new molecular and cellular techniques have greatly expanded our knowledge of how toxicants produce their adverse effects. As a consequence, the time has come for a substantial revision of Professor Ernest Hodgson's classic reference in the field. This Third Edition now contains updated overview chapters on immunochemical and molecular techniques. It also features entirely new chapters covering such crucial topics as immunotoxicology, cutaneous toxicology, reproductive and developmental toxicology, and molecular epidemiology.

Book Description

This carefully documented expose of the Intelligent Design (ID) movement contributed to the stunning victory in Federal court of eleven Dover, PA, parents who recognized ID's threat to public education and religious freedom. Now in paperback, here is Forrest and Gross's influential work documenting the continuity of intelligent design with traditional creationism. The new text updates ID initiatives in Kansas and Ohio and the movement's shifting strategies in an attempt to remain viable after its legal undoing in federal court. Anyone who values science and the benefits of life in an enlightened society should know about the Wedge's political, cultural, and religious ambitions. With a new foreword by Barry Lynn, this updated edition is an essential guide to ID's continuing threat to public education and the separation of church and state. It is the book to turn to for an inside look at the claims and operations of the ID movement, the most recent manifestation of American creationism.

Customer Reviews:

Intelligent design is a political movement, not a scientific one.......2007-06-29

There's no questioning that Creationism's Trojan Horse will be the definitive source on the Intelligent Design sham for a long time to come. Its great gift is that it digs as deeply as it can into the public pronouncements of the creationists, and pieces everything together into a rock-solid argument. It demonstrates a few things quite clearly:

1. ID is nothing more than recycled creationism, updated a bit so that it doesn't get lumped in with the new-earth creationists (i.e., those who believe the Bible is literally true and that the earth is 6,000 years old).
2. ID's proponents have absolutely no scientific evidence on their side.
3. William Dembski is the supposed intellectual at the root of the ID movement. His notion of irreducible complexity (IC) is supposed to be a rigorous, information-theoretic foundation to the old Paleyan argument from design. Irreducible complexity and its brethren have been heralded since the mid-1990's as signaling the end of natural selection. Dembski, at least, would like a bit of scientific respectability, so he tries to engage with his critics when they show that his arguments are nonsense. Irreducible complexity was supposed to provide a simple proof of god's existence, but engagement with critics has forced Dembski to release update upon update; IC is still no closer to making any predictions about anything, yet it gets continuously more complicated. The final nail in Darwin's coffin is always waiting in the next book.
4. ID is crypto-Christianity with a scientific face. The latter part is only there to make it respectable to non-Christians.
5. The world in which intelligent-design advocates want to live is a theocracy. They view evolution as a fundamental contributor to the "culture war," and view themselves as its warriors.
6. ID can only thrive in a society where science education is as abysmal as it is in this country.
7. ID advocates say they just want to "teach the controversy." There's no good reason to do this, when schools hardly have the resources to teach solid science. There's a resource-allocation problem, and no reason to allocate them towards an intellectually bankrupt system.
8. It is crucial for the movement to gain a foothold in elementary and high schools, where students are the most impressionable and science faculty are least competent to present arguments fairly.

Creationism's Trojan Horse approaches the ID movement from every relevant angle: where it gets its money, the background of its founders, their religious affiliation, the things they say when they're speaking to conservative Christians rather than to scientists, their political moves (including a fight over an Ohio school board), and the actual science that ID claims to have overthrown.

Barbara Forrest and Paul Gross have a difficult line to toe: they're required to answer Dembski's and Behe's scientific arguments, even if they believe those arguments are beneath contempt; Dembski and Behe cannot be left alone with the microphone. But neither can they be treated with respect. Under the circumstances, Forrest and Gross do the best that could be expected: they briefly touch on the science, just long enough to show that the science is irrelevant to the ID folks' aims, then move on to the real problem -- namely the politics.

If Forrest and Gross are awfully repetitive, it can be forgiven. They are clearly outraged. And they want no one to be left with a shadow of a doubt about the threat we're facing.

Revealing the extent of the deceit .......2007-05-07

A thorough investigation into the activities of some Intelligent Design supporters. It has to be wondered why any Christians, however convinced that the universe is designed, would want such dishonest representation given what Forrest and Gross have presented.

Co-author Barbara Forrest was a key witness in the trial at Dover, PA contesting an effort to present intelligent design as science and a viable alternative to evolution. In this book, she and Paul Gross are able to present considerably more detail about the key players and activities of the Discovery Institute, including its financial supporters.

"Creation's Trojan Horse" should be alarming to anyone with a concern for not using lies, be they non-Christian or Christian. It exposes the political rather than religious concerns of some Intelligent Design movement advocates, unless anyone would acknowledge the positive value of a regular and methodical pattern of telling lies.

This is not light reading. You may want to begin with Monkey Girl: Evolution, Education, Religion, and the Battle for America's Soul and Not in Our Classrooms: Why Intelligent Design Is Wrong for Our Schools. I suspect "Monkey Girl" and "Not in Out Classrooms" together would provide a sufficient understanding of the pseudoscience of intelligent design as well as the efforts to promote it educationally, politically and legally. If you need more detail, then this book would be very helpful, especially if you are involved or wish to become involved in any effort to ward off the introduction of anti-evolutionary teachings. Good science is open to critical review but, as you can see from reading these books, that openness is being severely abused.

"Creation's Trojan Horse" is not a psychological or sociological study. It does not investigate why some Christians are drawn to the Intelligent Design or Creationist arguments. Curiously a willingness to lie to achieve one's aims does not seem to alarm some who oppose the teaching of evolution in the U.S. public schools, as reading "Creation's Trojan Horse" and "Monkey Girl" will make plain.

Hopefully, through the educational efforts of book's such as this one, those who continue to oppose the teaching of evolution in public schools will at least support honest efforts to express their concerns.

The skeptics' view of the intelligent design movement.......2007-05-07

Barbara Forrest is the only plaintiff witness at the Kitzmiller v. Dover trial that the defense tried to discredit (in part by trying to show that she was a - gasp! - card-carrying secular humanist). It's not hard to see why. Here, she takes to pieces the entire intelligent design movement and shows the religious motivations of its supporters, allies, and financial backers with copious references. She also shows that the primary goal of the Wedge and the broad base upon which everything else is supposed to build - scientific research - has been close to a total failure so far. However, this has done little to limit the publicity and attention that ID has gotten from the media and from sympathetic school boards.

There are two weaknesses to the book. First, it makes its biases clear up front, being quite dismissive of the ID proponents at the outset, rather than working its way toward that dismissal. In some ways, this is only fair as the authors make their attitude clear right away. But it also gives the impression that the book is a diatribe rather than a carefully reasoned evaluation of ID. If the key final chapter, where the religious background is made absolutely clear, were first, that might have been a better way to go.

The other is that the book has quickly become dated with all the new developments in the past couple of years. It could really use a revised edition that would incorporate the renewed attempts in Kansas to minimize evolution in the state standards and the aforementioned Kitzmiller trial, especially the revelation that the ID supplemental textbook Of Pandas and People did a simple cut-and-paste to remove all mentions of creationism and replace them with intelligent design, immediately after a court ruled that creationism wasn't science.

It's also a book for a rather specialized audience: Creationists (and I include ID proponents here) aren't going to like it, and if you're not a creationist there's not a whole lot of point to reading it. It's only those who really want to understand where the latest, most savvy and sophisticated creationists are coming from that are going to want to read it, as a sort of intellectual ammunition. To them or to anyone who is fighting for quality science and science education against this onslaught, it can be recommended highly.

An encounter that says it all abut this book........2007-03-30

I was seated in a conference room at last year's meeting of the Mississippi Academy of Sciences, ready to take notes and question ID proponent Dr. Robet Waltzer of Belhaven College. "Creationism's Trojan Horse" was peeking out of my napsack as a man walked past me. He paused, turned around with a smile, and pointed to the book, saying "That's a great book!", then strolled on. I later learned he is a biology professor at the Southern Baptist institution, Mississippi College.

The polemics from hardcore believers regarding this book merely underscores its strength. I remind everyone it was the testimony of Dr. Forrest at Kitzmiller vs. Dover that turned the rest of the trial into a ritual; Judge Jones' ruling was a foregone conclusion.

Nitpick all you like, naysayers who claim to be in support of sound science. This book is a must-read for any parent whose children are in public schools, where ID is making stealthy inroads.

By their own words you will know them........2006-04-23

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is hard to imagine any group that "talks out of both sides of their mouth" as much as the Intelligent Design proponents that Forrest and Gross write about. Forrest and Gross meticulously dissect the deceptions and half-truths in all of their gory detail. It is really no small wonder that the Thomas More Law Center tried to keep Ms. Forrest from testifying in the Kitzmiller trial. While other books may speak to the scientific vacuity of Intelligent Design, this text reveals its moral, ethical and intellectual emptiness.

Creationism's Trojan Horse, the Wedge of Intelligent Design.(Book review): An article from: The Ohio Journal of Science

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Creationism's Trojan Horse, the Wedge of Intelligent Design.(Book review): An article from: The Ohio Journal of Science
Karl J. Romstedt
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

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Book Description

This digital document is an article from The Ohio Journal of Science, published by Thomson Gale on September 1, 2006. The length of the article is 1126 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: Creationism's Trojan Horse, the Wedge of Intelligent Design.(Book review)
Author: Karl J. Romstedt
Publication: The Ohio Journal of Science (Magazine/Journal)
Date: September 1, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 106 Issue: 4 Page: 169(2)

Article Type: Book review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Intentional deception.(Creationism's Trojan Horse: The Wedge of Intelligent Design)(Book Review): An article from: Skeptic (Altadena, CA)

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Intentional deception.(Creationism's Trojan Horse: The Wedge of Intelligent Design)(Book Review): An article from: Skeptic (Altadena, CA)
Bruce Grant
Manufacturer: Skeptics Society & Skeptic Magazine
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Skeptic (Altadena, CA), published by Skeptics Society & Skeptic Magazine on June 22, 2004. The length of the article is 2139 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: Intentional deception.(Creationism's Trojan Horse: The Wedge of Intelligent Design)(Book Review)
Author: Bruce Grant
Publication: Skeptic (Altadena, CA) (Refereed)
Date: June 22, 2004
Publisher: Skeptics Society & Skeptic Magazine
Volume: 11 Issue: 2 Page: 84(3)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Creationism's Trojan Horse: The Wedge of Intelligent Design

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Creationism's Trojan Horse: The Wedge of Intelligent Design
Barbara, and Gross, Paul R, Professor Forrest
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Creationism's Trojan Horse: The Wedge of Intelligent Design.
Barbara Forrest
Manufacturer: see notes for publisher info
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Women : Maxim's Unauthorized Guide
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Good Information; Cheesy Cover

A Guide to SOME (USA) women

Not your typical book on women

Good advice

Pretty funny, not too useful.

Women : Maxim's Unauthorized Guide
Editors of Maxim
Manufacturer: Maxim Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Undercover Sex Signals: A Pickup Guide For Guys

Maximum Sex!

Maximize Your Life : How To Do Everything Better

How to Make Anyone Fall in Love with You

How to Succeed with Women

ASIN: 0967572304

Book Description

Sexy and hilarious. The editors of MAXIM -- the world's fastest-growing men's magazine -- have just compiled the most definitive book on women ever written. Completely unauthorized, uncensored and unabashed, the book unveils women's deepest darkest secrets. From the moment you pick up this remarkable volume, you'll begin to discover the more than 5,000 scientifically proven, never-before-revealed tactics for wooing, winning, wowing and pleasing ANY woman.

Customer Reviews:

Good Information; Cheesy Cover.......2001-11-29

Well, a beautiful woman is sprawled out on the cover. How typical for a book on this sunbject. Needless to say, that hesitated me in reading this. I have read other books on this subject, and it was like having a snake-oil saleman come to my door, wanting to sale me the typical junk. I was very surprised to find that this book was more useful than I thought. I was expecting the same old, same old. "HOW TO PICK UP BEAUTIFUL WOMEN, NO MATTER WHAT YOU LOOK LIKE!!" (...)You know the usual garbage.

This book stayed away from that. It gives the kind of advice that you can believe in. It has a of of great tips FROM women, not from men on how to be more successful with women. This makes it well worth the price. The only disappointment I had was that many of the pages are pictures, and I wanted more information instead. It was as if it was a rush job to get this printed. But, practically every page had a good ideas worth trying. Hey, Maxim, where is the second edition?! A single guy needs more information on what women want.

A Guide to SOME (USA) women.......2001-10-02

Firstly I really think this book is telling you how to pull SOME chicks. It certainly isn't a universal key to the chastity belt! For example, they tell you that women like rich men. This is assuming of course that your intended date isn't an anti-capitalist protestor or member of the Communist party! Secondly it might mislead you into thinking all women are more promiscuous than they are. Some women will go for menage a trois, but there's some who won't sleep with you until they've been past the altar... So that's largely a culture thing for your more "liberated", liberal, American city chick (who isn't an anti-Capitalist protestor! :) ) Unfortunately I don't live in America, so some of the cultural references aren't helpful either.

I personally prefer Nick Casanova's "The Macchiavellian's Guide to Womanizing". His book is funny. Okay it might not have pictures of scantily clad ladies but it does have some good tips and is much more amusing. I think it's got a better general application.

Secondly note the race bias- all of the models seem to be white chicks. Maxim, FHM etc are bad for this... You do get good looking oriental women as well.

On the plus side, it gives you some tips on what to do which might seem more inventive and also it tells you how you can buy her presents without leaving your seat over the phone (which unfortunately were all American numbers!)... As for the sex tips, they seemed quite good, but if I wasn't getting more of it, I wouldn't buy this book!

Not your typical book on women.......2001-09-14

When it comes to books like these, I am very skeptical. This one, however, is what men can believe in. It doesn't tell you lies and useless garbage on how men can get dates with beautiful women. It offers very good advice on how to dress, how to approach them and what they like and want from us. This is worth the asking price. This is one of the rare ones that is worth keeping. I counted up all the pages that really helped me, and made sense, and it was most of the book! It's quite a change from your typical books on this subject. BUY THIS!

Good advice.......2001-09-10

Reads like one big article straight out of Maxim magazine.

Has lots of usefull advice to help the average guy better understand and be more successful with women.

If you cannot even get a date this book really will not help you much, it's not that kind of a book, it seems geared more towards the inexperienced/confused guy who can easily get dates but keeps running into trouble. Trouble caused by his own ignorance.

Pretty funny, not too useful........2001-08-28

This book contributes nothing to the world, although it is pretty funny and an easy read.

Average customer rating:

I Could Only Expect The Best From This Author...
Highly addictive

The Unauthorized Woman
Efrem Emerson
Manufacturer: Raw Dog Screaming Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 193329311X

Book Description

The Unauthorized Woman showcases the world of the inner freak, where no matter how "normal" or technologically advanced we become, we are consumed by our demons. Enter a landscape populated by the pre-dead and morticioners, by cockroaches and 300-lb robots. And, whatever you do, don't eat the overcooked lamb...

Customer Reviews:

I Could Only Expect The Best From This Author..........2005-12-24

I'm a friend of Efrem Emerson. I used to work with him in an independent bookstore, and I KNOW his surreal, bizzaro humor first hand! Customers, I KNOW Efrem, and you will NOT be disappointed! He has worked very hard in his craft, and I have nothing but admiration for this book. SO EFREM!! :o) Colleen "Santa's Beard" M. BUY THIS BOOK!

Highly addictive .......2005-09-16

From the enviously absurd mind of Efrem Emerson comes a collection of fictitious tales that not once, gives a single glimmer of monotony. Morbid humor mixed with utterly bizarre perversion create an atmosphere so twisted, characters so lovingly surreal, that from beginning to end the reader is treated to constant amusement, the inner workings of a genuinely true voice. Stories such as "Grandmother's Body" lunge the body forward with convulsions of laughter from deep within the stomach. While others like "Stray Cat" keep eyes wide with pure morose wonder. These 17 beautifully bizarre stories will no doubt leave the reader craving more Emerson like a cracker jacker craves cookies

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