Mathematical Testing of Planning PoliciesAuthor(s): William FairSource: Journal of the Operations Research Society of America, Vol. 2, No. 3 (Aug., 1954), p.357Published by: INFORMSStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/166655 .

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ANALYSTS' BOOKSHELF 357

apply, they do not assume normality in the population under examination, and their admitted inefficiency is seldom a drawback to the 'hemi-bel' conclusions usual in many OR problems. A clear explanation of such tests is the more to be desired, since (as Hoel's references make clear) much of the material has not yet emerged from the periodicals. This is a branch of statistics which is still young and one in which, as Hoel notes, "it is necessary to rely heavily on intuition" in selecting a particular form of test.

If the operations researcher already has a favorite statistics text, he may well see no reason for changing it. IHowever, if he is searching for a trustworthy guide to statistical theory, Hoel's book is worth his careful consideration.

WIIAAM F. WIIITMORI,

Washington, D. C(.

MIATHEIMATICAL TESTING OF PLANNING POLICIES

T HE ARTICLE of the above title, by L. A. Freney, which was published in the British Management Review in late 1951 (Vol. X, No. 4), introduces the

concepts of linear programming. Ile treats the subject in a qualitative nonmathe- matical manner in the main text and for those who are interested, he sharpens the discussion in a more precise quantitative way in three appendices. The bibliog- raphy included with the article is excellent up to the time of its publication.

The stated objectives of the paper are to outline "current econometric methods of plan optimization," "to enumerate the special branches of knowledge required to apply these methods," and "to provide a comprehensive bibliography of the background." The first objective is attempted largely through a process of definition of terms with little emphasis on the computational aspects. That is, it is an ex- planation of what is done rather than how it is done. A caution is inserted that the method is open to some criticisms, such as the linearity restriction, and the difficulty of measuring some variables, which is valid. However, an uncautious reader would be less likely to be led astray by a simple statement to the effect that some real problems lend themselves to expression as a linear program and some do not.

The second objective is adequately met, and the history of the development of activity in this field is treated in enough detail to lead an interested student to the right sources. Considered in the circumstances and time in which it was written, the paper represents an excellent contribution to the British literature on manage- ment and planning. To a U. S. audience of today it is of less value because of later works, but it should not be ignored by a newcomer interested in finding out what this 'linear programming' is all about.

WILLIAMI FAIR Stanford Research Institute

STATISTICAL MiETHODS AND OPERATIONAL RESEARCH IN TRANSPORT'

IN THIE ARTICLEI of the above title by F. A. A. AMenzler in the Journal of the Institute of Transport (British) 25, No. 2, January 1953, the author's purpose

"... is a severely pIactical one. Tt is to describe how answers to ceitain... trans- port problems have been, and in most cases could only have been, obtained by the use of proven scientific-including statistical-methods, which have yet to be generally accepted in transport."

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