Introduction to the Early Ideas and Contributions

Leonard C MacLean, Edward O Thorp and William T Ziemba

Chapter 1 in The Kelly Capital Growth Investment Criterion:Theory and Practice, 2011, pp 3-10 from World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.

Abstract: We live in an age of instant contact through email, twitter, TV, and other modes of communication. Back in the 1700s, communication was slower and mail would take weeks or months between receipt and response. The first paper in this volume and arguably the first on log utility is Daniel Bernoulli's article, written in 1738 in Basel, Switzerland where he was professor of physics and philosophy. Bernoulli, at age 25, studied in Basel, went to St. Petersburg and then returned to Basel. He is a member of the famous family of Swiss mathematicians, who were known as the first to apply mathematical analysis to the movement of liquid bodies. His article on log utility and the St. Petersburg paradox reprinted here was translated by Dr. Louise Sommer of the American University with assistance from Karl Menger, mathematics professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology, and William J. Baumol, economics professor at Princeton University. The article was published in Econometrica in 1954…

Keywords: Kelly Criterion; Dynamic Investment Analysis; Capital Growth Theory; Sports Betting; Hedge Fund Strategies; Speculative Investing; Fortune 's Formula (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
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