It is a story that involves gangsters, mathematicians, the founder of information theory, more gangsters and politicians and police (both corrupt and, well, even more corrupt). This is a very interesting book and one that explains complicated mathematical and economic ideas beautifully and simply. Shannon believed it was possible for a smart investor to beat the market-and Fortune's Formula will convince you that he was right. It reveals the dark side of this alluring scheme, which is founded on exploiting an insider's edge. Fortune's Formula traces how the Kelly formula sparked controversy even as it made fortunes at racetracks, casinos, and trading desks. Shannon became a successful investor, too, topping even Warren Buffett's rate of return. Thorp used the Kelly system with his phenomenonally successful hedge fund, Princeton-Newport Partners. They realized that there was even more money to be made in the stock market. Thorp took the 'Kelly formula' to Las Vegas. Together they applied the science of information theory-the basis of computers and the Internet-to the problem of making as much money as possible, as fast as possible. Kelly Jr., a Texas-born, gun-toting physicist. One was mathematician Claude Shannon, neurotic father of our digital age, whose genius is ranked with Einstein's. In 1956 two Bell Labs scientists discovered the scientific formula for getting rich.