Life insurance mathematics

Halley's Comet has recently captured public attention, appearing in the night sky for the first time in 76 years. This event serves as a reminder of Sir Edmund Halley's contribution to science in 1693, when he created the world's first life table, laying the groundwork for life insurance. Halley's life table was initially seen as a deterministic tool, suggesting that the number of deaths in a specific group and year could be precisely calculated. However, this perspective overlooks the inherent randomness of such numbers. Consequently, the mathematical approach to life insurance increasingly relies on probability theory. By sponsoring this monograph, the Swiss Association of Actuaries aims to promote the modern probabilistic understanding of life contingencies. We are fortunate that Professor Gerber, a leading expert in the field, has taken on the writing of this work. We extend our gratitude to Springer-Verlag and anticipate that this monograph will be the first in a successful series of actuarial texts. Additionally, two significant developments have transformed actuarial mathematics: the advent of powerful, affordable computers, which have simplified many numerical calculations.