Reviews for The law and practice of the Stock Exchange: with appendices containing the rules and regulat...

The average rating for The law and practice of the Stock Exchange: with appendices containing the rules and regulat... based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2015-11-17 00:00:00 Gunther Mainhardt 741 pages of heavy reading, going into great detail and background leading up to Einstein's various discoveries and evolving of his theory of relativity. What a man! He made some very public 'booboos' but his attitude was that only in death do we stop making mistakes - for me this has been the greatest lesson. Einstein had such complete confidence and was uninhibited about striving for his goals. His thirst for knowledge overshadowed any setbacks. This wonderful determination, energy, drive and personal passion delivered some great achievements and insights to mankind that might not have occurred if he had succumbed to the vindictiveness and criticism of many ego driven academics. He was a good looking man - particularly in his youth, had a pleasant disposition, was flitatious and a pacifist. He struggled with his national identity for many years (Swiss, in parallel with German and Prussion), probably all his life and had to diplomatically wade through all the politics surrounding him because of his Jewish origins. He married twice (the second time his cousin) and lived rather a bohemian existence in his earlier life. He didn't conform to anything he didn't agree to and retained his unique individuality. He became famous in the early 1920's after many years of misunderstanding re his theory of relativity, which is way beyond the comprehension of the average person. Eventually he received the Nobel Prize in 1921 for his discovery of the 'law of the photoelectric effect'. It took many years for Einstein to be acknowledged for his contribution to physics because of this lack of understanding and other political issues, even though he was recommended a number of times. In addition, such debate arose of his theories it took quite some time to confirm it and as it was he was not awarded the prize for 'relativity' as such because it was not classed as a 'discovery'. Einstein was in Japan when the announcement was made and it created confusion over his nationality with the Swiss and the German Governments vying for the privilege to hand it over. A compromise was reached in the end with the Swiss Ambassador handing it over in Berlin. His first wife, Mileva, received the benefits of the financial reward. By the time Einstein gave his Nobel lecture on relativity theory in 1923, he had long turned his mind to new problems. "The intellect seeking after an integrated theory" he declared, "cannot rest content with the assumption that there exists two distinct fields totally independent of each other by their nature". He did not realize then that these words he was describing would be his passionate scientific quest to the end of his days; the search for a unified theory of Gravity and electromagnetism. Over the following years and decades he lost himself in ever more abstract reflections, studied advanced mathematics and entangled himself in the most complex calculations. Over time he lost his 'standing' amongst his fellow scientists and became increasingly isolationist. He lived through his exile in the USA Princeton (where he lived happily). When Hitler came to power he treated Einstein as an enemy of the State because of his Jewishness and political beliefs. His pacifist stance crumbled when he was confronted by the reality of nations having to defend themselves against Germany and, later, Japan. He did all he could to assist Jewish refugees to immigrate to the US and was a champion for the building of the new State of Israel. He wrote to the president of the United States in 1939 and warned him of the imminent discovery of the atomic bomb and that Germany could have the capacity and means to develop it first. He was devastated to learn of the catastrophic outcomes of the bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. "The release of atomic energy has not created a new problem. It has merely made more urgent the necessity of solving an existing one. One could say that it has affected us quantitatively not qualitatively." 27 October 1945, Atlantic Monthly "Atomic War or Peace" and further in the New York Times 11 December 1945; "We helped create this new weapon in order to prevent the enemies from achieving it first; given the mentality of the Nazis, this could have brought about untold destruction as well as enslavement of the peoples of the world. This weapon was delivered into the hands of the American and the British nations in their role as tustees of all mankind, and as fighters for peace and liberty; but so far we have no guarantee of peace nor any of the freedoms promised by the Atlantic Charter ... the war is won - but the peace is not." In a letter to Otto Juliusburger, Princeton April 11, 1946 he wrote.."I believe that the terrible decline in man's ethical behavious is due primarily to the mechanisation and depersonalisation of our lives - the disastrous by-product of the development of the technological-scientific intellect. Nostra Culpa! I see no way of dealing with this fatal shortcoming. Man cools more quickly than the planet he inhabits." Einstein never forgave the Germans and felt that "not a trace of a sense of guilt or remorse is to be found for their butchering millions of civilians according to a well prepared plan". He renounced any German citizenship before the war and turned his back on his 'Stepfatherland'. He died with dignity and specified the simplest of ceremonies and cremation for his funeral. A few weeks before his death he reflected that death is "...an old debt that one eventually pays. Yet instinctively one does everything possible to postpone this final settlement, such is the game that nature plays with us. We may ourselves smile that we are not that way, but we cannot free ouselves of the instinctive reaction to which we are all subject." This book has been diligently researched and comprehensively covers the life of a very unique person - we see his contradictions, purity of thought and singleminded determination, energy and prejudices. When I have the opportunity I will purchase this book for reference.

Review # 2 was written on 2012-01-23 00:00:00 David Brau Good