Dantzig: the simplex method for linear programming

What changed

A general-purpose procedure made linear-programming optimization computationally tractable in practice.

Scientific scope

1947 development and early method; not sole invention of linear programming, duality or later algorithm variants.

Evidence

The linked sources identify this contribution and its scope. WRS has not independently reconstructed the scientific claims. This record is scoped to Dantzig’s simplex method and early formulation. Precursor elimination methods, later variants, complexity theory and interior-point algorithms remain separate.

Contributors

• George B. Dantzig · SCIENCE: Named source author of the scoped work; individual effort shares are not measured.

• Dantzig, Origins of the Simplex Method
• Dantzig, Maximization of a Linear Function of Variables Subject to Linear Inequalities
• Stanford MS&E history timeline: Dantzig and the simplex method

Provisional WRS assessment, edition 2026-10-16.1. Independent expert calibration is pending. This grade does not certify correctness or assign ownership.

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