The theorization of finance following World War II forever changed the economic sector (Chance and Peterson 447). The emergence of the science of finance came about in order to remove a lot of the risk that comes with investment. In an effort to remove a lot of this uncertainty, investors transformed this hit-or-miss guessing game into an empirical scientific practice.
Several social, economic, and technological changes took place which facilitated this change from guesswork to formula. One such advance was the invention of the new branch of mathematics called stochastic calculus (Chance and Peterson 450). One of the main contributing factors to this mathematical breakthrough was the discovery of Brownian Motion which only came to light in 1827, which was the result of the advances in microscope technology during the 19th century. As such, the microscope was one technological change that made finances a quantifiable field (Microbus Organization).
Another advance that allowed practitioners of this discipline to carve out a niche for themselves in the world of the academy was the mass media. Mass media enabled trading news to be made available to huge investment firms but also to the everyday citizen quickly so that they could stay on top of the market (Chance and Peterson 453). The interaction between the private investor and the corporations allows Fama to classify the market status (Chance and Peterson 453). This classification adds to the credibility of the market and furthers its scientific status. Clearly, the modern market is the result of complex mathematics and sciences and is no longer a game of hit-or-miss.
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