INTRODUCTION TO DERIVATIVE-FREE OPTIMIZATION

For many years all three of us have been interested in, and have tried to make contributions to, derivative-free optimization. Our motivation for writing this book resulted from various circumstances. We had the opportunity to work closely with the leading contributors to the field, including especially John Dennis, Michael Powell, Philippe Toint, and Virginia Torczon. We had some knowledge of various facets of the recent developments in the area, and yet felt there was a need for a unified view, and we hoped thereby to gain a better understanding of the field. In addition we were enticed by the growing number of applications.