My repository of really old Actuarial books

Indeed.

the horsepucks is not declaring the total shipping cost on the purchase screen. seems like bait-and-switch to me. I’d tell them to get bent.

Maybe. I suspect they estimated it before prices went up, I dunno.
And unfortunately I can’t just get these books elsewhere.

Right now I’m trying to source books on the spanish flu mortality stats. Not having much luck finding anything really.

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I decided to carve out a section on just mortality data, so I went and bought a bunch more books focused on that topic. A half dozen came in the mail yesterday. My scanner software isn’t working right now, currently working with tech support, but every response is a 2-3 day wait.

Might have another look today for Spanish flu books, but not having much luck. Seems like there should be lots.

One interesting thing is how some of these books are readily available elsewhere, like on Google books. And others, I suspect that I’ve got the only copy in existence.

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What I have found in doing searches in the past is that it’s complicated by the Spanish flu happening with the end of WWI.

Spanish flu is usually treated, mortality-wise, as an adjunct with other mortality issues going on at the same time.

Another trend (in the U.S., at least, because I dug into it at one point) – childhood mortality specifically, diphtheria was finally getting treated in a good way. That got cut dramatically in the 1920s, so that was right after the Spanish flu.

https://stump.marypat.org/article/476/good-news-of-wednesday-the-world-is-getting-better

https://stump.marypat.org/article/1085/memory-monday-the-spanish-flu-peak-in-october-1918-and-more

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So I’m scanning and reading lol. Spencer’s 21 term formula for smoothing ages…Is that still a thing? In use today?
One of my life tables books turned out to be an extensive teardown of data, including what is basically a textbook’s worth of explaining how all calculations were done (i.e. they explain the actuarial mathematics in depth). And in passing they mentioned this formula.

And now I’m wondering when ‘they’ first started doing stuff like calculating e_x. Eh, I don’t need another rabbit hole to go down, I’m in the middle of one right now.

Got a bunch of new books in with mortality/life tables. Enough to split off this stuff into it’s own section. Currently have 14 books scanned (well, short one, having software difficulties) just on this topic:

  • Mortality of the IOOF, 1893-1897
  • Mortality of Mutual Life of NY, 1843-1898
  • Table of life contingencies, members of the Equitable society 1768-1825
  • US mortality stats, 1905
  • US Life tables 1890-1910
  • Mortality among southern negroes, 1920
  • Mortality stats of the US, 1850
  • mortality experience of Met life, 1911-1935 (still working on uploading this one, should be done this week).
  • mortality stats of insured wage earners, met life, 1919
  • Mortality of insured lives, 1924-1929
  • British insured lives experience 1963-1893
  • mortality among persons of intemperate habits lol, 1851
  • causes of death amonst the insured, scottish widows fund, 1902
  • valuation tables ioof 1933

And…just went to the post office and there’s a package for me, though I couldn’t pick it up because the service desk was closed. So maybe one more shortly.

Oh, and one of the books, and now I don’t recall which one, had some info on the spanish flu. Probably the met life one, since it covers that time period. I’ve looked for more info on 1918-1919 and still not finding anything. I’d like to have some books on that.

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This one might have a bibliography.

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Just ordered two articles published in the early 1800’s written by and about gompertz.

He wrote a book on his stuff but they’re like $1000 a copy and I’ve got five kids man.

I sort of wish I kept my books. Between borrowing, moving, getting new jobs and leaving them there I’ve lost all of them.

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Yeah I used to dump all my texts at one time. Now I keep them all. No good reason lol I just like books.

Interesting, I couldn’t find any old books by makeham.

My nephews and nieces are in college. I bought their calc textbooks from them vs them returning for a lower amount.

Cruising ebay for insurance books. There’s always a ton of recipe books put out in the early part of the last century by insurance companies as marketing stuff. I feel like I should buy a bunch and set up a recipe website.

Okay, I’m actually intrigued.

I haven’t come across those (yet)

My first gompertz article.just arrived!

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I’ve got the first gompertz article scanned and ready to go online likely early next week when we push out a new version of the website.
Yesterday, got my second gompertz article in. A quick scan indicates it’s actually the third of three articles buddy wrote; so i’ve got the first one and the third one, not the second. And I don’t see the second one available online so an incomplete set. I’ll try and get that scanned in the next few days, maybe it can go online with the next website version as well.

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YAY