I just finished Scott Peterson’s The Quants: How a New Breed of Math Whizzes Conquered Wall Street and Nearly Destroyed It
Peterson chronicles the evolution of the quants – tracing the evolution from Ed Thorp and his Beat the Dealer book about blackjack. Like many other readers, Thorp’s book had a big impact on me when I first read it. It definitely improved my blackjack playing – even if I never was good enough to get kicked out of a casino!
The meltdown of the quant funds in August 2007 is the conclusion of Peterson’s book – an engrossing read!