It is 1939 and a student, little known until then, was making history. His name is George Dantzig and he was studying for his doctorate when one ordinary day, he arrived late to class and ended up solving two mathematical problems (practically impossible) without even blinking.
We are talking about one of the most famous academic episodes in the world. Without knowing it, he turned in as homework the solutions to two statistical enigmas that no one had managed to solve until then… How did he do it!? That was the beginning of a career that revolutionized statistics, optimization and the way we understand data science today!
The day he solved the impossible
George Dantzig was studying at the University of California, Berkeley, under the guidance of the statistician Jerzy Neyman, one of the most important. Arriving late to class, he copied two exercises written on the blackboard, believing they were part of the homework. He spent days working on them and finally turned in the solutions.
And when his professor saw what he had done, he was stunned. Dantzig had solved two open questions that had been stuck for years. And that simple misunderstanding ended up becoming his doctoral thesis… and the beginning of a brilliant career.
He solved it because he did not know it could not be done
What he ignored was that those problems were “impossible,” open unsolved questions, but he was not afraid to try, he did not think he was not skilled enough, that he could not achieve it, that trying was useless… He just tried, and he succeeded.
And when we do not know that something is impossible, limitations stop existing, there are no limits or fears, you just throw yourself into doing it, living it, solving it… And no, we are not talking about mathematics now.
From mistake to global impact: the Simplex algorithm
Years later, George Dantzig developed the Simplex algorithm, a fundamental tool in linear programming. This method makes it possible to find the most efficient solution to a problem with multiple restrictions, without needing to analyze all possible combinations. Imagine that you need to choose something fast but expensive, or something slow but cheap, okay? Well, the Simplex helps you choose the most efficient option without having to test all the options.
Which is better? The answer will depend on the budget, the distance and other factors, but the Simplex solves it.
This algorithm, of course, revolutionized everything. From production planning, logistics, resource allocation to network design. Thanks to it, companies and governments optimize complex decisions in a matter of seconds.
Not every test is a good test
The second major contribution of Dantzig was to show that a statistical test loses value if it does not consider the variability of the data.
Think of it like this: you have two groups of students. One very homogeneous and the other with very different levels among them. If you give them the same test and you do not take that variability into account, the results may look similar… but in reality they mean nothing. They are empty.
Dantzig was one of the first to show that the validity of a test depends on how it is designed and whether it takes that type of differences into account. Something that is still fundamental today, both in education and in science or artificial intelligence.
Thinking without fear
That young man who arrived late to class did not know what his exercise was going to mean, he thought it was just another homework assignment the professor had given him, however, he became one of the most influential mathematicians in history. And many times things seem impossible only because someone else has not managed to do them, or because they were afraid. Many times, we need to approach things without preconceived ideas, without prejudging them and without prejudging ourselves… How many things do we miss because of the fear of taking risks?