CHAPTER II
THE SIMPLE MATHEMATICS OF LIFE INSURANCE

THE mathematics of life insurance is, when the term is used in a comprehensive sense, so considerable and so technical that to be able to apply it properly is the most essential qualification for what has become a distinct profession. The calculations of actuaries, on the whole, also are of a nature not readily comprehensible by persons who are not skilled both in mathematics and in insurance principles and practices. In the profession some of the higher developments of the science of mathematics are applied at times which renders the processes more puzzling to the man in the street.

Very nearly all of this, however, is due to the desire to use "short cuts" or quicker processes to arrive at the desired result. In other words, these formidable-looking rules and formulas are merely labour-saving devices, like the calculating machines which are often found in actuaries' offices. The principles by means of which the ordinary calculations by actuaries are made

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