The Thesis
Historians argue Bachelier's thesis was not appropriately received, resulting in Academia blackballing. However, his instructor, Henri Poincaré is recorded to have given some positive feedback (though socially insufficient for finding an immediate teaching position in France at that time). For example, Poincaré called his approach to deriving Gauss' law of errors
| “ | very original, and all the more interesting in that Fourier's reasoning can be extended with a few changes to the theory of errors. ... It is regrettable that M. Bachelier did not develop this part of his thesis further. | ” |
The thesis received a note of honorable, and was accepted for publication in the prestigious Annales Scientifiques de l’École Normale Supérieure. The fact that it did not receive a mark of très honorable, despite its ultimate importance, is still interpreted as an appreciation for his contribution. Jean-Michel Courtault et al. point out in "On the Centenary of Theorie de la Speculation" that honorable was "the highest note which could be awarded for a thesis that was essentially outside mathematics and that had a number of arguments far from being rigorous." Positive feedback from Poincaré can be attributed to the mathematician's interest in mathematical ideas, not just rigorous proof. "Poincare: un intuitif Character"
Read more about this topic: Louis Bachelier
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