Introduction to Operations Research (Enhanced Edition‪)‬

In countries other than the United States there are cases, sometimes
factual though more often legendary, of millionaires who have begun
their careers as newsvendors. Alas, the recipe for becoming a millionaire
has not been vouchsafed to us, and until such time as someone is kind
enough to let us into the secret, we propose to sell newspapers without
too great a loss or, if that is possible, with sufficient profit to provide a
modest livelihood. Will fortune smile on us if we study the methods of
operations research? Anyhow, out of modesty, we shall tell the story of
our friend, Theophrastus, from whom we always buy our newspapers.