Analogue computer generation of probability distributions for operations research

OPERATIONS research is being applied in science, commerce, and industry. Developed in response to military needs during World War II, it was then known as operations analysis and later as weapons systems evaluation. In its most general aspect operations research is a scientific method of providing executive departments with a quantitative basis for decisions regarding the operations under their control.1 It does this by predicting and comparing the values, effectiveness, and costs of alternative courses of action involving man-machine systems.