Over the holiday weekend, my family and I traveled to the Raleigh-Durham area. While walking around the UNC Chapel Hill campus, I discovered a small stack of OR and programming books that someone had discarded and left just outside one of the buildings (for shame! But their loss is my gain.). The best of the bunch was Optimization in Operations Research by Ron Rardin. I have only used this particular textbook before. I was excited to find it, since it has a reputation for offering an intuitive and clear intro to OR methods in optimization (reading this book has been on my to do list for some time). After perusing Rardin’s book a bit on the way home, I can see that it will be extremely useful for teaching.
It was nice to unexpectedly encounter operations research on a family excursion. I particularly enjoyed finding a book about optimization, since there really isn’t anything optimal or efficient about a family trip. That’s part of the fun, of course.
Punk Rock Operations Research 
June 8th, 2010 at 11:13 am
Hello Laura, could you recommend any other good books that provide insight into the world of operations? Maybe more of an overview? My background isn’t in this field but I’m trying to put it in perspective. Thanks in advance for any recommendations.
June 8th, 2010 at 3:12 pm
That is an excellent question, and I’m sure I’m not the best person to answer it. I enjoyed reading The Flaw of Averages by Sam Savage earlier this year, which touches on many modeling and operations issues. I would recommend that you pose this question on the OR Exchange–I’m sure you will get a few excellent recommendations.