Somewhat related, but very detailed, is the book Against the Gods[0] by Peter Bernstein that documents the historical development of understanding probability and risk. It also discusses what people believed before these concepts were understood.

0 - https://www.amazon.com/Against-Gods-Remarkable-Story-Risk/dp...

I strongly recommend "Against The Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk" (1996) [1] for a fascinating, historical perspective on people's growing understanding of probability and statistics over the last few millennia.

The author, Peter Bernstein [2], was brilliant and his other works also merit your attention if you are interested in economics and finance.

[1] https://www.amazon.com/Against-Gods-Remarkable-Story-Risk/dp...

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_L._Bernstein

No, they used stochastic to reduce risk and find patterns in the markets.

http://www.amazon.com/Against-Gods-Remarkable-Story-Risk/dp/...

You prefer the old fashion way?

Aren't startups gambling with other people's money? What's the success rate there? 1 in 100?

Ha! Just this morning I was reading about the development of probability theory and risk management in "Against the Gods" by Peter Bernstein [1]. I just finished the chapter on the Bernoullis contributions. Interesting read!

[1] http://www.amazon.com/Against-Gods-Remarkable-Story-Risk/dp/...

There is a great book out there called ' Against the Gods ' by Peter Bernstein. http://www.amazon.com/Against-Gods-Remarkable-Story-Risk/dp/... It has the fantastic story of how a lot of mathematical computations are a product of the effort to quantify risk.