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I’m looking for existing scholarship that traces how Operations Research specifically evolved in European settings.

My thesis involves comparing OR's institutionalization in different regions. I have a good handle on its American, military origins, but I'm struggling to find synthesized work on its parallel or divergent development across various European national and academic contexts since the mid-20th century.

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By Joshna Answered 1 year ago

From my experience, you'll need to piece this together from national histories. There isn't one single text, but I'd recommend starting with Maurice Kirby's work on UK OR and the edited volume "Operations Research and History" for broader context. Look for articles in EURO Journal on the History of OR. Critically, search for histories of national societies (like SOGE in France or GOR in Germany) and technical universities. I've found that the development was less centralized than in the US, often driven by specific industries like railways or nationalized services, which makes comparative work especially valuable.

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