SUMT (Revisited)

By Stephen G. Nash

Fiacco and McCormick's 1968 book is a classic. It arose out of the authors' activities at the Research Analysis Corporation, and as such it is the record of an ambitious and productive collaboration. But it is more than that. The topics they studied and the situations they encountered are representative of the experiences of other researchers in the 1960s. At a deeper level, Fiacco and McCormick's book illustrates the influence of two great traditions of research: one based on linear programming, and the other based on the calculus of variations. The work of Fiacco and McCormick remains influential, as do the influences of these two traditions. An understanding of these influences not only illuminates the history of nonlinear programming, but also its present and future.

“SUMT (Revisited)”, Operations Research, 46 (1998), pp. 763-775.

• Systems Engineering & Operations Research Dept.
• School of Information Technology and Engineering
• George Mason University

(snash@gmu.edu)