Economists' Mathematical Manual

Rating:
Summary: handy little book
Review: I got this little book when I was in college studying economics and kept it throughout grad school in econ. It's been surprisingly useful, mostly because it contains formulas and no extraneous text. A pocket version would be even better.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent reference and then some..
Review: Sydsaeter et al. have compiled what must be the most condensed reference book in the field, given its amazingly broad scope but small number of pages. Just a few of the multitude of topics covered in this book are set theory, dynamic optimization, vector spaces, convexity, determinants, risk aversion theory, and probability distributions. The presentational format is essentially that of an extensive list, with copious notes in the margins.

The brevity of Economists' Mathematical Manual is simultaneously its greatest strength and its greatest weakness. The strength obviously lies in its diverse scope. Few books could claim to be authoritative over such a wide spectrum of subfields of economics.

Yet the lack of exposition can also be perceived as a weakness. This book is extremely useful as a reference, but first-year Ph.D. students should be warned that it should be considered supplemental only. A textbook such as Simon and Blume's Mathematics for Economists or Chiang's Fundamental Methods of Mathematical Economics should be the reference of first recourse for anyone encountering mathematical economics for the first time.

Rating:
Summary: Extremely Condensed and Extremely Useful!
Review: Sydsaeter et al. have compiled what must be the most condensed reference book in the field, given its amazingly broad scope but small number of pages. Just a few of the multitude of topics covered in this book are set theory, dynamic optimization, vector spaces, convexity, determinants, risk aversion theory, and probability distributions. The presentational format is essentially that of an extensive list, with copious notes in the margins.

The brevity of Economists' Mathematical Manual is simultaneously its greatest strength and its greatest weakness. The strength obviously lies in its diverse scope. Few books could claim to be authoritative over such a wide spectrum of subfields of economics.

Yet the lack of exposition can also be perceived as a weakness. This book is extremely useful as a reference, but first-year Ph.D. students should be warned that it should be considered supplemental only. A textbook such as Simon and Blume's Mathematics for Economists or Chiang's Fundamental Methods of Mathematical Economics should be the reference of first recourse for anyone encountering mathematical economics for the first time.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent reference and then some..
Review: This book is great. It provides an outstanding reference tool for graduate, but also undergraduate students. Even if you're not entirely into studying economics, and only come up against it occasionally, you can get your money's worth with this title. I purchased this as a reference while finishing undergraduate work and I'm sure it will serve me well in graduate school as well. Don't miss this, and buy a copy while it's available.