A course for non-math majors on optimization and its role in hot- and cold-wars. Students will learn elementary aspects of mathematical optimization, with a special focus on linear programming, as viewed through the historical developments of WWII and the Cold War, and do some relevant calculations in Mathematica. Reading lists to include…

Required Reading:

Francis Spufford, Red Plenty — a novel about the Soviet planned economy
- Chpt 1: Work assignment problem
- Chpt 4: Shortest path
- p. 95: assignment as linear program
- p. 98: necktie example of shadow prices
Paul Nahin, When Least is Best — narrative mathematics about optimization topics methods
A book about Operations Research during WWII? Maybe Malcom Gladwell’s Bomber Mafia (NYT Review), despite qualms? Would really like engage Paul Samuelson and Abraham Wald during the WWII effort and the rise of Operations Research in the post-war US. Maybe Alex Abella’s Soldiers of Reason: The RAND Corporation and the Rise of the American Empire (NYT Review)
Miscellaneous articles from old operations research journals?
Thie & Keogh, An Introduction to Linear Programming and Game Theory — might be a good combo text; emphasis on graphical methods and use of excel, which we would supplement with a treatment in Mathematica

Optional readings

H. Paul Williams, Mathematical Programming — A solid introduction to optimization (“programming”) topics and their applications for newcomers
Robert Bosch, Opt Art — introduction to linear optimization and its applications to creating mathematical art
Presh Talwar, The Joy of Game Theory — essays about game theory topics for a popular audience
Ken Binmore, Playing for Real: A Text on Game Theory –advanced undergraduate course on game theory for economists and social scientists
O’Conner & Robertson (1996) History of matrices and determinants (website)
Marginal University: Economic History of the Soviet Union (online course)—a 41 video course, but maybe particular selections are useful for our purpose

Other books on reserve

(Mostly gleanings from the bibliography of Red Plenty)

Michael Ellman, Planning Problems in the USSR (CUP 1973)—this stackexchange thread has some examples drawn from the book, including the problems of defining different objective functions (nail factory problem); the thread also describes some other possible books including Social Problems in a Free Society: Myths, Absurdities, and Realities by Myles J. Kelleher (alt link) that may be interesting to dig into
Philip Minkowski, Machine Dreams: Economics Becomes a Cyborg Science (CUP, 2002)
F. A. Hayek, The Use of Knowledge in Society
von Mises, Socialism
Karl Schlögl, The Soviet Century (PUP, 2023)—“explores in evocative detail both the largest and smallest aspects of life in the USSR, from the Gulag, the planned economy, the railway system, and the steel city of Magnitogorsk to cookbooks, military medals, prison camp tattoos, and the ubiquitous perfume Red Moscow.”

Comments and Collaborators

(23 Jan 2023) Zachary Jones ‘25 adds: Red Plenty is actually one of my favorite books of all time actually! I intend to do a blog post on Kantarovich’s On the Best Use of Economic Resources. Dr. Siddiqi in the Fordham history department’s research focuses on Soviet scientific history, so I think he would be the one to get in contact with. I have reached out to him before asking various questions, so he may be receptive to such a course. I would take an ICC+EP3 course titled “Linear Programming, Economic Planning, and the Cybernetic Imaginary” in a heartbeat.
(10 Apr 2023) Can Cybersocialist Planning Become a Reality?