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Operations research: an introduction. Incl. disk. 6th ed. (English) Zbl 0907.90114

Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall International. xx, 916 p. (1997).
[The first edition (1971) has been reviewed in Zbl 0227.90002 and the fifth edition in Zbl 0774.90026.]
This is the 6th edition of a text first published in 1971. The 6th edition is a complete rewrite of the first 18 chapters; chapters 19, 20, and 21 are updated and rewritten; includes comprehensive problems at the end of each chapter; includes over 1000 problems which is 60% more than the previous edition; includes a diskette containing software to support the text which includes: SIMNET II – a student version of the simulation language and TORA – a collection of 8 modules algorithms.
The book is organizd into three sections: Deterministic models, probabilistic models, and nonlinear models. The deterministic models portion of the text includes 10 chapters covering: introduction to linear programming; the simplex method; duality and sensitivity analysis; transportation model; network models; advanced linear programming; goal programming; integer linear programming; dynamic programming; inventory models.
The probabilistic models portion includes 8 chapters: introduction to probability; forecasting models; decision analysis and games; probabilistic dynamic programming; probabilistic inventory models; queueing systems; simulation modeling; Markovian decision process.
The nonlinear models portion includes 2 chapters: classical optimization theory; nonlinear programming algorithms.
There is an extensive chapter on SIMNET II in the appendix.
The software included with the text, TORA, includes 8 modules: linear programming; transportation; networks; integer programming; queueing; histogramming/forecasting; inventory.
The software is written in DOS and seems to perform well though given the widespread use of Windows such a user interface would make the use of the programs more appealing.
The book attempts to cover both introductory and advanced material. As a result it is a very large text, over 900 pages. It would likely require a full year to cover all of the material in the text and some of the more advanced techniques would present a challenge to the beginning student. The book is likely to be used in a comprehensive introduction to operations research courses. It will also be useful as a reference text for practicing professionals.

MSC:

90Bxx Operations research and management science
90-01 Introductory exposition (textbooks, tutorial papers, etc.) pertaining to operations research and mathematical programming
90Cxx Mathematical programming
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