Abstract
After World WarII, many of the scientists who had applied their knowledge to study and solve military planning and operational problems returned to their laboratories and universities. There were a few, however, who recognized that their military successes, which had launched the fledgling science of Operations Research (OR), could be transferred into the industrial and business worlds. Sir Charles Frederick Goodeve, a physical chemist, was the most prominent and influential advocate of OR as a means of raising industrial productivity in postwar Britain. Appointed in 1945 as director of the newly formed British Iron and Steel Research Association (BISRA), Charles ensured that OR was represented as a distinct department with the mission of applying the scientific method to industrial problems.
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Further Information
The website of the Naval Museum, Manitoba (http://www.naval-museum.mb.ca/people/g/goodeve.htm) is a useful supplement to this article. Accessed 17 Oct 2009)
Goodeve’s private papers can be consulted at the Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge CB3 0DS, U.K.
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Kirby, M.W. (2011). Charles Frederick Goodeve. In: Assad, A., Gass, S. (eds) Profiles in Operations Research. International Series in Operations Research & Management Science, vol 147. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6281-2_5
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