What divided Thorp from Black, Scholes, and Merton was a difference in goals. Thorp was not trying to pursue a career in academic financial economics. His aim was to find arbitrage opportunities, and his modeling work was mainly a means to that end. In contrast, Merton and (at least at that stage of their careers) Black and Scholes were oriented above all to their academic peers: seeking to make money from National General warrants was a sideline. Their model was designed to offer an elegant, economically insightful account of the processes determining option prices. They did not see modeling, as Thorp did, primarily as a tool for identifying opportunities for profitable trading.

Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera, loc. 1110