Contributions to the Minimum Linear Arrangement Problem. On a Binary Distance Model for the Minimum Linear Arrangement Problem

The problem was that the picture Air Force officers had of their target didnБЂ™t tell them what they really needed to know. The Germans, it emerged, had ample stockpiles of ball bearings. They also had no difficulty increasing their imports from Sweden and Switzerland, and, through a few simple design changes, they were able to greatly reduce their need for ball bearings in aircraft production. WhatБЂ™s more, although the factory buildings were badly damaged by the bombing, the machinery inside wasnБЂ™t. Ball-bearing equipment turned out to be surprisingly hardy. БЂњAs it was, not a tank, plane, or other piece of weaponry failed to be produced because of lack of ball bearings,БЂ«Albert Speer, the Nazi production chief, wrote after the war. Seeing a problem and understanding it, then, are two different things. In recent years, with the rise of highly accurate long-distance weaponry, the Schweinfurt problem has become even more acute. If you can aim at and hit the kitchen at the back of a house, after all, you donБЂ™t have to bomb the whole building ...»