The lives of twenty-four American aviators became forever intertwined in the skies over Ploesti, Rumania, in 1944, when a pair of bomber crews, an aerial photographer, and a fighter pilot engaged in some of the deadliest air battles the world had ever known. The odds of surviving these almost-daily encounters were somewhere between slim and none. Yet, by some miracle, many of these brave and courageous airmen lived through the horrific campaigns and returned home as conquering heroes.Blown to Bits: 20,000 Feet over Ploesti shares the story of these two dozen American aviators who were shot out of the skies over Nazi-occupied Europe. Considerable material was extracted from national archives in order to document the individual accounts. Author Leon Cooper traveled across the country to interview the remaining survivors and also communicated with family members of the others, who provided a wealth of photos, documents, and stories.Discover an amazing chapter in American history through the firsthand accounts of the men who lived through these harrowing events. Their story is intriguing, tragic, and exciting, but the ending is nothing less than miraculous!

Introduction to Dynamic Programming introduces the reader to dynamic programming and presents the underlying mathematical ideas and results, as well as the application of these ideas to various problem areas. A large number of solved practical problems and computational examples are included to clarify the way dynamic programming is used to solve problems. A consistent notation is applied throughout the text for the expression of quantities such as state variables and decision variables.This monograph consists of 10 chapters and opens with an overview of dynamic programming as a particular approach to optimization, along with the basic components of any mathematical optimization model. The following chapters discuss the application of dynamic programming to variational problems; functional equations and the principle of optimality; reduction of state dimensionality and approximations; and stochastic processes and the calculus of variations. The final chapter looks at several actual applications of dynamic programming to practical problems, such as animal feedlot optimization and optimal scheduling of excess cash investment.This book should be suitable for self-study or for use as a text in a one-semester course on dynamic programming at the senior or first-year, graduate level for students of mathematics, statistics, operations research, economics, business, industrial engineering, or other engineering fields.

Introduction to Dynamic Programming provides information pertinent to the fundamental aspects of dynamic programming. This book considers problems that can be quantitatively formulated and deals with mathematical models of situations or phenomena that exists in the real world. Organized into 10 chapters, this book begins with an overview of the fundamental components of any mathematical optimization model. This text then presents the details of the application of dynamic programming to variational problems. Other chapters consider the application of dynamic programming to inventory theory, Markov processes, chemical engineering, optimal control theory, calculus of variations, and economics. This book discusses as well the approach to problem solving that is typical of dynamic programming. The final chapter deals with a number of actual applications of dynamic programming to practical problems. This book is a valuable resource for .graduate level students of mathematics, economics, statistics, business, operations research, industrial engineering, or other engineering fields.

The lives of twenty-four American aviators became forever intertwined in the skies over Ploesti, Rumania, in 1944, when a pair of bomber crews, an aerial photographer, and a fighter pilot engaged in some of the deadliest air battles the world had ever known. The odds of surviving these almost-daily encounters were somewhere between slim and none. Yet, by some miracle, many of these brave and courageous airmen lived through the horrific campaigns and returned home as conquering heroes.Blown to Bits: 20,000 Feet over Ploesti shares the story of these two dozen American aviators who were shot out of the skies over Nazi-occupied Europe. Considerable material was extracted from national archives in order to document the individual accounts. Author Leon Cooper traveled across the country to interview the remaining survivors and also communicated with family members of the others, who provided a wealth of photos, documents, and stories.Discover an amazing chapter in American history through the firsthand accounts of the men who lived through these harrowing events. Their story is intriguing, tragic, and exciting, but the ending is nothing less than miraculous!

Introduction to Dynamic Programming introduces the reader to dynamic programming and presents the underlying mathematical ideas and results, as well as the application of these ideas to various problem areas. A large number of solved practical problems and computational examples are included to clarify the way dynamic programming is used to solve problems. A consistent notation is applied throughout the text for the expression of quantities such as state variables and decision variables.This monograph consists of 10 chapters and opens with an overview of dynamic programming as a particular approach to optimization, along with the basic components of any mathematical optimization model. The following chapters discuss the application of dynamic programming to variational problems; functional equations and the principle of optimality; reduction of state dimensionality and approximations; and stochastic processes and the calculus of variations. The final chapter looks at several actual applications of dynamic programming to practical problems, such as animal feedlot optimization and optimal scheduling of excess cash investment.This book should be suitable for self-study or for use as a text in a one-semester course on dynamic programming at the senior or first-year, graduate level for students of mathematics, statistics, operations research, economics, business, industrial engineering, or other engineering fields.

Introduction to Dynamic Programming provides information pertinent to the fundamental aspects of dynamic programming. This book considers problems that can be quantitatively formulated and deals with mathematical models of situations or phenomena that exists in the real world. Organized into 10 chapters, this book begins with an overview of the fundamental components of any mathematical optimization model. This text then presents the details of the application of dynamic programming to variational problems. Other chapters consider the application of dynamic programming to inventory theory, Markov processes, chemical engineering, optimal control theory, calculus of variations, and economics. This book discusses as well the approach to problem solving that is typical of dynamic programming. The final chapter deals with a number of actual applications of dynamic programming to practical problems. This book is a valuable resource for .graduate level students of mathematics, economics, statistics, business, operations research, industrial engineering, or other engineering fields.