Book excerpt: In today's world, we are increasingly exposed to the words 'machine learning' (ML), a term which sounds like a panacea designed to cure all problems ranging from image recognition to machine language translation. Over the past few years, ML has gradually permeated the financial sector, reshaping the landscape of quantitative finance as we know it.An Introduction to Machine Learning in Quantitative Finance aims to demystify ML by uncovering its underlying mathematics and showing how to apply ML methods to real-world financial data. In this book the authorsFeatured with the balance of mathematical theorems and practical code examples of ML, this book will help you acquire an in-depth understanding of ML algorithms as well as hands-on experience. After reading An Introduction to Machine Learning in Quantitative Finance, ML tools will not be a black box to you anymore, and you will feel confident in successfully applying what you have learnt to empirical financial data!