In 1956 two Bell Labs scientists discovered the formula for getting rich. One was mathematician Claude Shannon, neurotic father of our digital age; the other was John L. Kelly, Jr., a Texas-born, gun-toting physicist. Together they applied information theory--the basis of computers and the Internet--to the problem of making as much money as possible, as fast as possible. Shannon and MIT mathematician Edward O. Thorp took the "Kelly formula" to the tables of Las Vegas. It worked. They realized that there was even more money in the stock market, specifically in the risky trading known as arbitrage. Shannon became a successful investor, using his wealth to drop out of the scientific world. This book traces how the Kelly formula sparked controversy even as it made fortunes at racetracks, casinos, and trading desks.--From publisher description.