Louis Bachelier's Theory of Speculation

"March 29, 1900, is considered by many to the day mathematical finance was born. On that day a French doctoral student, Louis Bachelier, successfully defended his thesis Theorie de la Speculation at the Sorbonne. The jury, while noting that the topic was "far away from those usually considered by our candidates," appreciated its high degree of originality. This book provides a new translation, with commentary and background, of Bachelier's seminal work." "Aside from providing an accurate and accessible translation, this book traces the twin-track intellectual history of stochastic analysis and financial economics, starting with Bachelier in 1900 and ending in the 1980s when the theory of option pricing was substantially complete."--BOOK JACKET.