Black and Scholes converged on option pricing through shared technique rather than joint insight.

Evidence

Then, in “the summer or early fall of 1969,” Scholes told Black of his efforts, and Black described the different approach he had taken, in particular showing Scholes the Taylor-series expansion of the warrant price that echoed his work with Treynor (Scholes 1998, p. 480). — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera, 578

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Option pricing converged on economic models through traders copying other users. — Donald MacKenzie & Yuval Millo, Constructing a Market, Performing Theory, 183; Black and Scholes priced options via CAPM while Thorp sought arbitrage without it — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera: How Financial…, 141

Broader Connections

• Black and Scholes priced options via CAPM while Thorp sought arbitrage without it #expands (0.82) — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera, 141