Model Building in Mathematical Programming

Book excerpt: The 5th edition of Model Building in Mathematical Programmingdiscusses the general principles of model building in mathematicalprogramming and demonstrates how they can be applied by usingseveral simplified but practical problems from widely differentcontexts. Suggested formulations and solutions are given togetherwith some computational experience to give the reader a feel forthe computational difficulty of solving that particular type ofmodel. Furthermore, this book illustrates the scope and limitationsof mathematical programming, and shows how it can be applied toreal situations. By emphasizing the importance of the building andinterpreting of models rather than the solution process, the authorattempts to fill a gap left by the many works which concentrate onthe algorithmic side of the subject. In this article, H.P. Williams explains his originalmotivation and objectives in writing the book, how it has beenmodified and updated over the years, what is new in this editionand why it has maintained its relevance and popularity over theyears: ahref="http://www.statisticsviews.com/details/feature/4566481/Model-Building-in-Mathematical-Programming-published-in-fifth-edition.html"http://www.statisticsviews.com/details/feature/4566481/Model-Building-in-Mathematical-Programming-published-in-fifth-edition.html/a