Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 6.2.
Beer after the move to Wales. Source: Beer 1994a, 315. Photo: Hans-
Ludwig Blohm.
©
Hans-Ludwig Blohm, Canada.)
From Operations Research to Cybernetics
Beer's route into cybernetics began with his work in operations research
(OR) which in turn grew out of his work in the British Army in India. We do
not need to delve deeply into the history of OR, but some brief remarks are
relevant. As its name suggests, OR developed in World War II as a scientific
approach to military operations. “Scientific” is to be contrasted here with
traditional approaches to tactical and strategic planning based on the accu-
mulated expertise of military commanders, and wartime OR can be broadly
characterized in terms of a quantifying spirit aimed at modelling military
activities with an eye to optimizing performance. One could try to calculate,
for example, the optimal U-boat search pattern to be flown by a specified
number of aircraft of given speed and range. OR was first developed in Britain
