Thorp was young professor at UC Irvine when I was a postdoctoral fellow there. During those years, he wrote the brilliant and entertaining "Beat the Dealer", which made me a little money. A few years later, he wrote this book, which also made me some. Unfortunately, the strategy doesn't work very well (depending on arbitrage in expiring warrants and options). Markets have become more efficient over the years, wrecking the profit out of this strategy for ordinary investors. Still, there were great ideas in this book, which were quite revolutionary in its time. ( )