We Need to Modernize How We Introduce Students to Optimization
2024
This article takes on two titans of operations research: George Dantzig and Richard Bellman. Those in the O.R. community will immediately recognize Dantzig’s contribution of the simplex algorithm for solving linear programs and Bellman’s contribution of “Bellman’s equation” for solving sequential decision problems that he called “dynamic programs.” However, very few people need to actually solve a linear program, and even fewer use Bellman’s equation to solve a sequential decision problem!