Book excerpt: The first graduate-level text devoted to the subject, this classic offers a concise history and overview of methods as well as an excellent exposition of the mathematical foundations underlying classical operations research procedures. It begins with a review of historical, scientific, and mathematical aspects; examples and ideas related to classical methods of forming models introduce discussions of optimization, game theory, applications of probability, and queuing theory. Carefully selected exercises illustrate important and useful ideas. This text is an ideal introduction for students to the basic mathematics of operations research as well as a valuable source of references to early literature on operations research. 1959 edition.