ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. This book deals with the development of our understanding of risk and gives an explanation of the mathematical techniques for analysing them. It explores the process of risk management within the project framework; this order of presentation is quite deliberate as the management process is underpinned by the analytical techniques. The creation of a project is a visible expression of the desire for change; it is a response to a perceived need for something new and it creates an opportunity to be exploited. A project is a response to a stimulus to create something where nothing existed before. Some projects have little in them that is new; they may involve something that is well known and understood, only the unique nature of the undertaking makes it into a project.
