Fischer Black and the Revolutionary Idea of Finance

The story of a giant in the world of finance Besides revolutionizing finance by providing the methodology to price a new instrument–through the Black-Scholes option pricing model–Fischer Black revolutionized Wall Street by effectively developing what is now known as quantitative finance. Black deciphered the universe of modern finance in ways that went underappreciated for many years–and would have won the Nobel Prize in Economics, if not for his untimely death in 1995. Now, in Fischer Black and the Revolutionary Idea of Finance, author Perry Mehrling weaves Black’s personal story with the birth of modern finance into a vignette-based business biography that captures the essence of this extraordinary man. Through years of research and cooperation from nearly all of Black’s business and academic associates, as well as family and friends, Mehrling explains, for the first time, the ground-breaking impact Fischer Black had on the worlds of money and finance as well as world markets. This compelling biography of the "Einstein of Finance" follows Black through his incredible career, from his undergraduate studies in physics, mathematics, and computer programming to his transition from academia to one of the most elite of firms on Wall Street–Goldman Sachs–where he developed quantitative models that tens of thousands of professionals still use today. While there is no question that Fischer Black is well-known within the investment and quantitative community, he still remains a mystery to those outside of these fields. Fischer Black and the Revolutionary Idea of Finance demystifies this genius of finance and provides an engaging and entertaining look at a man whose life’s work encapsulates modern financial theory.