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!
'Against the Gods' is an excellent book. I can't recommend it highly enough to anybody who is at all interested in any kind of risk, or the financial markets.
[1] http://www.amazon.com/Against-Gods-Remarkable-Story-Risk/dp/...