Edward O. Thorp
Edward Oakley Thorp (born 14 August 1932) is an American mathematics professor, author, hedge fund manager, and blackjack player. He is best known as the author of Beat the Dealer (1962). This was the first book to prove that the house advantage in blackjack could be overcome by card counting.[1] As part of this work he collaborated with Claude Shannon in creating the first wearable computer in 1961.[2][3]
Edward O. Thorp | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 14, 1932 |
| Citizenship | American |
| Alma mater | UCLA |
| Known for | blackjack system; wearable computers; stock market investment |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Probability theory, Linear operators |
| Institutions | UC Irvine, New Mexico State University |
| Influences | Claude Shannon |
Thorp also developed and applied effective hedge fund techniques in the financial markets. He was a pioneer in modern applications of probability theory, including the harnessing of very small correlations for reliable financial gain.
Thorp received his Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1958, and worked at M.I.T. from 1959 to 1961. He was a professor of mathematics from 1961–1965 at New Mexico State University, and then joined the University of California, Irvine where he was a professor of mathematics from 1965 to 1977 and a professor of mathematics and finance from 1977 to 1982.
Stock market
changeSince the late 1960s, Thorp has used his knowledge of probability and statistics in the stock market by discovering and exploiting a number of pricing in the securities markets. Thorp is currently the President of Edward O. Thorp & Associates, based in Newport Beach, CA. In May 1998, Thorp reported that his personal investments yielded an annualized 20 percent rate of return averaged over 28.5 years.[4]
Books
change- Thorp, Edward O. (1966). Beat the Dealer: A Winning Strategy for the Game of Twenty One. Vintage. ISBN 0-394-70310-3.
- Edward O. Thorp 1967. Beat the market: a scientific stock market system, 1967, ISBN 978-0-394-42439-2 (online version Archived 2009-10-07 at the Wayback Machine)
- Thorp, Edward O. (1977). Elementary Probability. Krieger Publishing Company.
- Thorp, Edward (1984). The Mathematics of Gambling. Lyle Stuart. ISBN 978-0-89746-019-4.
References
change- ↑ Griffin, Peter A. (1999). The Theory of Blackjack: The Compleat Card Counter's Guide to the Casino Game of 21. Anthony Curtis. ISBN 978-0-929712-13-0.
- ↑ Edward O. Thorp. "The invention of the first wearable computer" (PDF). Edward O. Thorp & Associates. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 May 2008. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
- ↑ Mann, Steve 2012. Wearable computing. In: Soegaard et al (eds) Encyclopedia of human-computer interaction. Aarhus, Denmark: The Interaction-Design.org Foundation.
- ↑ "Thorp's market activities". Webhome.idirect.com. Archived from the original on 2005-10-31. Retrieved 2010-04-26.