Decision and risk analysis is the discipline comprising the philosophy, theory, methodology, and professional practice necessary to address important decisions in a formal manner.

Decision analysis includes many procedures, methods, and tools for identifying, clearly representing, and formally assessing important aspects of a decision, for prescribing a recommended course of action by applying the maximum expected utility action axiom to a well-formed representation of the decision, and for translating the formal representation of a decision and its corresponding recommendation into insight for the decision maker and other stakeholders.

In Breakthroughs in Decision Science and Risk Analysis, Dr. Louis Anthony Cox and his 14 contributors, have written a valuable text that provides the current state around recent advances in decision and risk analysis.

The book is meant for the decision and risk analysis professional, and is in no way an introduction to the topic. 

The authors cover the various elements that make up decision and risk analysis, including psychology, economics, statistics, engineering and more.

There are numerous discussions in the book on how decision and risk analysis can be applied to make better policy and management decisions, using empirical evidence, as opposed to basing it on gut decisions.

Those in the field will certainly find this book a valuable reference.