The Evolution of Operational Research

Michael H. Rothkopf



The end of a decade, century or millenium is an occasion for speculating about the future. Forecasts can be either naïve or sophisticated extrapolations of the past. The farther into the future one wishes to predict, the more need there is for sophistication in the extrapolation. This sophistication must come from an understanding of what was essential about the past. This talk will examine how operational research has evolved and the forces that have driven that evolution..