Oberschelp, Walter Alcuin’s camel and the jeep problem. (English) Zbl 1016.90002 Butzer, P. L. (ed.) et al., Karl der Große und sein Nachwirken. 1200 Jahre Kultur und Wissenschaft in Europa. Band 2: Mathematisches Wissen. Turnhout: Brepols. 411-422 (1998). Summary: Alcuin’s problem 52 is the first appearance of the modern jeep problem in operations research. This optimization problem has been solved under severe (tacit) restrictions by Alcuin. We give optimal solutions under general assumptions and compare them with the usual modern versions of the problem. The main tool for the proofs is a careful analysis of the remainder term for the harmonic series.For the entire collection see [Zbl 0942.00019]. Cited in 1 Document MSC: 90-03 History of operations research and mathematical programming 90B05 Inventory, storage, reservoirs 01A35 History of mathematics in Late Antiquity and medieval Europe 40A25 Approximation to limiting values (summation of series, etc.) 34A30 Linear ordinary differential equations and systems Keywords:optimization; operations research; jeep problem; logistics; expedition planning; multistage rocket; harmonic series; asymptotic approximation PDFBibTeX XMLCite \textit{W. Oberschelp}, in: Karl der Grosse und sein Nachwirken. 1200 Jahre Kultur und Wissenschaft in Europa. Band 2: Mathematisches Wissen. Turnhout: Brepols. 411--422 (1998; Zbl 1016.90002)