|
|
|
OPERATIONAL RESEARCH IN WAR AND PEACE
The British Experience from the 1930s to 1970
by Maurice W Kirby (Lancaster University, UK)
This invaluable book provides an account of Operational Research in Britain, the country of its inception, from the late 1930s to 1970. Originating in response to the country's air defence needs against the Luftwaffe, Operational Research had outstanding achievements as part of the 'secret war' against Nazi Germany. After 1945, the discipline began to be adopted in an increasing range of industries and services. In the 1960s by which time it was being incorporated in to university curricula the discipline began to penetrate into civil government departments. The history of Operational Research provides unique insights into the conduct of modern warfare, the professionalisation of business management and the modernisation of the civil service. The chronological coverage, from the late 1930s to 1970, coincides with 'golden age' of Operational Research, when the discipline was presented as a means of achieving optimum solutions to complex managerial problems. The book will be of interest to military and business historians, as well as to historians of public administration and higher education.
Contents:
- The Origins of Operational Research: Military and Other Antecedents
to 1937
- The Beginnings of Operational Research: British Air Strategy, 19201940
- The Wartime Diffusion of Operational Research, 19401945
- Operational Research in Bomber Command, 19411945
- The Postwar Labour Government and Operational Research 19451951
- Operational Research in Iron and Steel
- Operational Research in Coalmining
- The Diffusion of Operational Research After 1960: The Corporate Sector
- Operational Research in the Public Sector
- The Institutional Development of Operational Research
Readership: Graduate students, academics and practitioners in operational
research and management science, as well as military, business and economic historians.
Although the brief of this book might appear narrow, Kirby has commendably broadened its scope to show the relevance of OR to, or used it as an example of wider historical and economic issues, most obviously in his discussions about the penetration of Taylorism and scientific management in Britain compared to the US.
is an excellent authorized history, produced for the Operational Research (OR) Society. Its novelty lies not in what it tells us about OR at war but about OR in peace.
| The Economic History Review |
The interesting historical perspective presented by the author shows that the success of operational research in obtaining the status of an independent science considerably increased the level of its technical requirements and therefore is also responsible for a closed-loop mathematical development and a loss of contact with application.
| 476pp |
Pub. date: Jun 2003 |
|
|
