Why am I passionate about this?
I am a financial data scientist. I think it is important that data scientists are highly specialized if they want to be effective in their careers. I run a business called Conlan Scientific out of Charlotte, NC where me and my team of financial data scientists tackle complicated machine learning problems for our clients. Quant trading is a gladiator’s arena of financial data science. Anyone can try it, but few succeed at it. I am sharing my top five list of math books that are essential to success in this field. I hope you enjoy.
Chris' book list on mathematics for quant finance
Why did Chris love this book?
While studying computer networks, Claude Shannon did something pretty impressive. He reformulated the majority of classical statistics from scratch using the language and concepts of computer science.
Statistical noise? There’s a new word for that; it’s called entropy. Also, it turns out it is a good thing, not a bad thing because entropy is equal to the information content or a data set. Tired of minimizing the squared error of everything? That’s fine, minimize the log of its likelihood instead. It does the same thing. This book challenges the assumptions of classical statistics in a way that fits neatly in the mind of a computer scientist. As a quant trader, this book will help you understand and measure the information content of data, which is critical to your success.
2 authors picked The Mathematical Theory of Communication as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.
Scientific knowledge grows at a phenomenal pace--but few books have had as lasting an impact or played as important a role in our modern world as The Mathematical Theory of Communication, published originally as a paper on communication theory more than fifty years ago. Republished in book form shortly thereafter, it has since gone through four hardcover and sixteen paperback printings. It is a revolutionary work, astounding in its foresight and contemporaneity. The University of Illinois Press is pleased and honored to issue this commemorative reprinting of a classic.