Quest of optimization---from lebombo bone to DEA

Human consciousness has always stived for optimization. The quest of finding maximum has always been the intrinsic quality of humans. This paper traces optimization from prehistoric times to the age of modernization. Models such as maps and diagrams have been used since prehistoric times. One can dispute artifacts like the Lebombo bone or the Ishango bone as true models as they belong to prehistoric times, but how can one ignore Yajurvedasamhitā (1200–900 BCE), where the numbers as high as 1012 have been included. Various instances from Vedic as well as Greek times strengthen the presence of this quest of optimization. Not only humans even the animals also follow this great teleological tendency of the universe. The familiar honeycomb shape, which is a repeating hexagonal pattern, is the optimal way of storing honey. This paper also traces ground beaking developments of modern times like linear programming and data envelopment analysis(DEA).