Breaking onto the 3/7 NYT Nonfiction Hardcover bestseller list at #15, after two weeks on the extended list, is The Quants: How a New Breed of Math Whizzes Conquered Wall Street and Nearly Destroyed It by Wall Street Journal reporter Scott Patterson

The title refers to quantitative strategists, who employed new financial techniques that made them incredible amounts of money, but also brought about several major meltdowns, including the credit crisis of 2007.

Patterson was interviewed on Fresh Air last month (listen here), along with the “godfather” of quantitative finance, Edward Thorp, who first used the theory to win at blackjack.

The book is also reviewed the current issue of Business Week.

The Quants: How a New Breed of Math Whizzes Conquered Wall Street and Nearly Destroyed It Scott Patterson Retail Price: $27.00 Hardcover: 352 pages Publisher: Crown Business – (2010-02-02) ISBN / EAN: 0307453375 / 9780307453372

Random House Audio; ABR; 9780739385067; $32eBook and Unabridged audio available from OverDrive

This entry was posted on Monday, March 1st, 2010 at 8:33 am and is filed under 2010/11 - Winter/Spring, Bestsellers, Nonfiction. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.