M.I.T. IN WORLD WAR II

By I. DIANA

CONTENTS INTRODUCTION AUTOMATION'S FINEST HOUR: RADAR AND SYSTEM INTEGRATION IN WORLD WAR II THE ADOPTION OF OPERATIONS RESEARCH IN THE UNITED STATES DURING WORLD WAR II ERIK P RAU FROM CONCURRENCY TO PHASED PLANNING: AN EPISODE IN THE HISTORY OF SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT PLANNING A TECHNOLOGICAL NATION: SYSTEMS THINKING AND THE POLITICS OF NATIONAL IDENTITY IN POSTWAR FRANCE A WORM IN THE BUD? COMPUTERS, SYSTEMS, AND THE SAFETY-CASE PROBLEM ENGINEERS OR MANAGERS? THE SYSTEMS ANALYSIS OF ELECTRONIC DATA PROCESSING IN THE FEDERAL BUREAUCRACY THE WORLD IN A MACHINE: ORIGINS AND IMPACTS OF EARLY COMPUTERIZED GLOBAL SYSTEMS MODELS THE INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR APPLIED SYSTEMS ANALYSIS, THE TAP PROJECT, AND THE RAINS MODEL RAND, IIASA, AND THE CONDUCT OF SYSTEMS ANALYSIS HOW A GENETIC CODE BECAME AN INFORMATION SYSTEM INTRODUCTION AFTER WORLD WAR II, A SYSTEMS APPROACH TO SOLVING COMPLEX PROBLEMS AND MANAGING COMPLEX SYSTEMS CAME INTO VOGUE AMONG ENGINEERS, SCIENTISTS, AND MANAGERS IN 1964, THE ENGINEERING INDEX HAD NO ENTRY FOR ``SYSTEMS ENGINEERING'' AND ONLY TWO PAGES FOR ``OPERATIONS RESEARCH,'' BOTH VARIATIONS UPON A SYSTEMS APPROACH BY 1969, THE NUMBER HAD JUMPED TO EIGHT PAGES OF CITATIONS FOR ``SYSTEMS ENGINEERING'' AND TO TEN FOR ``OPERATIONS RESEARCH'' ENTHUSIASM FOR A SYSTEMS APPROACH PEAKED DURING THE EARLY LYNDON JOHNSON ADMINISTRATION (1963±1969), AFTER WHICH THE TRAJECTORY OF ADVOCACY MOVED DOWNWARD IN STEP WITH THE REVERSES OF THE VIETNAM WAR AND THE RISE OF A COUNTERCULTURE THE COUNTERCULTURE ASSOCIATED LARGE SYSTEMS WITH THE MILITARY/INDUSTRY/ UNIVERSITY COMPLEX AND WITH THE VIETNAM QUAGMIRE THE DECLINE IN THE POPULARITY OF THE SYSTEMS APPROACH ALSO RESULTED FROM THE FREQUENT FAILURE OF ITS PRACTITIONERS TO COPE WITH COMPLEX URBAN PROBLEMS INVOLVING POLITICAL AND SOCIAL FACTORS BEFORE THIS DOWNWARD TURN, HOWEVER, AN ARTICULATED SYSTEMS APPROACH UNFOLDED IN RICH AND UNPRECEDENTED WAYS DURING AND AFTER WORLD WAR II THE APPROACH SPAWNED NEW ACADEMIC ®ELDS, NEW ``SCIENCES OF MANAGEMENT,'' AND NEW MODES OF ENGINEERING PRACTICE IT E¿ORESCED INTO A NUMBER OF FORMS, INCLUDING OPERATIONS RESEARCH, SYSTEMS ENGINEERING, SYSTEMS ANALYSIS, AND SYSTEM DYNAMICS OPERATIONS RESEARCH USUALLY REFERRED TO A SYSTEMATIC ANALYSIS OF OPERATING SYSTEMS, OR OPERATIONS, SUCH AS MILITARY BOMBING RAIDS DURING WORLD WAR II; SYSTEMS ENGINEERING MOSTLY DESIGNATED THE MANAGEMENT OF THE DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF TECHNOLOGICAL SYSTEMS, SUCH AS THE INTERCONTINENTAL BALLISTIC MISSILE SYSTEM IN THE UNITED STATES IN THE 1950S; SYSTEMS ANALYSIS OFTEN DEALT WITH THE COMPARISON OF SYSTEMS THAT O¨ERED ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS TO PROBLEMS, SUCH AS THE USE OF LONG-RANGE BOMBERS VERSUS INTERCONTINENTAL MISSILES; AND SYSTEM DYNAMICS O¨ERED MODELS THAT COULD BE USED IN POLICY MAKING BY PREDICTING AND COMPARING THE DOWNSTREAM CONSEQUENCES OF OUTCOMES OF ALTERNATIVE POLICIES