A perspective on fifty-five years of the evolution of scientific respect for simulation

This paper gives a personal perspective on the evolution of discrete-event simulation-concentrating on how it moved from having an image from the 1950s through the 1980s of being a “brute force programming effort” and as a problem-solving “method of last resort” to today's status where simulation enjoys “considerable scientific respect.” These days, simulation is often the solution “method of choice” and has gained much “scholarly respect.” This evolution changed simulation's reliance on the use of “ad hoc methods” of solution on “early digital computers” to using simulation software systems containing “science-based methods” of solution on “modern day computers.” Remember: Simulation today has considerable scientific respect, and this respect is the result of the evolution of simulation.