SIMULATION

Simulation was a popular early use of the computer. It became known as the Monte Carlo method because the computer generated random numbers that could be used to select values from some underlying probability distribution that was a model for the phenomenon being simulated. Not only did I get into this but Dr. James Jackson, a mathematician who introduced the first operations research course into the School, was simulating the operation of a job shop. Ross Nelson, who was a graduate student in engineering at the time and later joined the faculty of the School, used simulation as the basis for his doctoral dissertation.