Michael J. Best and Klaus Ritter,
Linear Programming Active Set Analysis and Computer Programs , Prentice-Hall Inc,
1985 (369 pages)
All Fortran Programs from the book, data sets and a PDF file of the book itself: Download Press the link to the left, then choose "Save File".
This will download the file "LPProgs.zip" to the downloads directory of your browser. LPProg.zip contains "BRLPbook.PDF" which is the Latex
version of the book, all the Fortran 77
files and data sets in our Linear Programming book. Unzip LPProgs.zip and open the file README.txt for further instructions.
Best Family History (updated 2016)
Over the years, I have collected some materials concerning the Best family history. I have put it
all here in the hope that other people researching the Best family will find it useful
- The earliest information I have is a letter written by William Best describing the the family
from about 1690. Early Best History . Note that this letter states
the Best's came from Hanover. While this is true, I don't think it is the whole story. When I was
teaching at Universität Stuttgart in 1978, I wrote to the Stadtarchivist in Hanover to
inquire about the old tax reords for Bests. They wrote back to say there were only one
or two Best's recorded in Hannover but there were many Best's in Osterode. See the letter here
letter to Michael J. Best. This suggests to me that Hannover might
have been a staging point for soldiers including the Bests from Osterode.
- Some of my ancestors left Germany in 1695 for Ireland. In 1819, some of
the family left Ireland to come to Canada where they began farming in the township of Emily, near
Peterborough (approximately 200 km North East of Toronto). This letter
Best History from 1819
may be of general interest as
they give a picture of living conditions in Canada in the early 1800's.
- An excellent book about the famalies who settled in Emily Township is Howard Pammelt,
"Lilies and Shamrocks", 1974 (374 pages)
- Emily Presbaterian Cemetary is where many Bests are interred. It has an excellent web site
and has gravestones which are mostly photographed and there is some information about each person there.
Go there by clicking
Emily Presbaterian Cemetary. From there, press the link for "View all internments (377)" (upper right).
This brings up an alphabetized list of all who are interred there and you can see there are a lot of
Bests there. Click on one and you will probably see the corresponding gravestone plus birth/death dates
and possibly some family links. Click on the gravestone and you will see a larger version of it.
-
I must tell you of a rather amazing coincidence. I have a daughter named Julia. For the past few years
she has been dating a man named Jeff Lawson. Several times a year, they will come up from Toronto
and have lunch or dinner with us. One such time in the Spring of 2016, we were having dinner in our
back yard when Jeff said "My ancestors are from Emily." I looked at him in disbelief and said
"Mine are too." Patti went inside and brought back our copy of "Lilies and Shamrocks". I gave it to Jeff
and said "You better take it home. You have a lot of reading to do." Julia told me that Jeff took
that book everywhere. Then, later that summer I got frantic emails from Julia. She said they'd
been visiting Jeff's parents at their cottage and the drive home went very close to
Emily Presbaterian Cemetary. So Jeff wanted to take Julia there to see his ancestor's gravestones.
So they went to the Lawson's gravestones which were all in a row. Julia noticed that the neighboring
row of gravestones were all Bests! When she got home, she emailed me the news right away.
In the "Best History from 1819" (above), there is the sentence "The first year there were only four families in
the Township; the two Bests, Finley and Jackson." Julia pointed out this sentance to me and
with the additional information that Jeff's grandmother's maiden name was Jackson. We then began
to speculate.
When the kids reached marrying age, they wouldn't have much choice in a marriage partner........
- Here is a picture of my father, Fulton John Best (top right), my Aunt Margaret (top left),
my Uncle Louis (bottom left), and my Aunt Nevada (centre). When I look at this picture, I am always
amazed at how closely I resemble my father. My Father's Siblings
-
Grandfather, Great and Great-Great Grandparents
This picture shows my grandfather, Louis Thexton Best (top right). The couple to Grandpa's right are my great grandparents: his name is
Samual Best. The remaining couple are my great-great grandparents. His name is Elmer. I can't remember the ladie's names.
Judging by my Grandfather's apparent age, I would guess that the picture was taken about 1900.
-
The following is A Best Family Tree. I say "A" because I don't recognize people on it. It may be just a branch of the Best
family that I'm not familiar with. There is an interesting story behind it. A Best Family Tree
In the mid 1970's, I was teaching a course at the University of Waterloo. A young lady approached me after the class and asked
me to sign her in to the course by signing a form which she handed me. I had a look at the form and noticed that my name,
Best, was already on the form. I said to her that these forms usually wouldn't have my name on them. She said it wasn't my name on it,
it was her name on it! So that started a conversation. She knew about two brothers coming to Canada from Ireland in the early
1800's and she had an extensive Best family tree in her possession a Best family tree (A Best Family Tree - link above) and she offered
to make a copy for me. I wish I could remember her first name and I would like to contact her again. She was taking a double major:
Music and Combinatorics and Optimization. She also mentioned a hotel on Highway 3 between Cayuga and Simcoe which is owned by Bests.
Pictures of Grad Students, Friends and Family
- 2008-2009: Father's Day: Victor, Julia, myself, Parthan,
Thamayanthi, Lujing, Jeyan, Jing, Zhengzheng and Charlie.
- 2007-2008: Victor, Julia, me, Jarka and her Mom, Zhengzheng and her parents.
- July, 2007: Mike's Grad Student Reunion 2 Thamayanthi, Patti, me, Baoyan, DongMei, Alex, Marina
- June 2007; Visit to Nanjing, China
- 2006: Friends Dinner Party at John and Haiyan's, backyard pics
- Mike's Grad Student Reunion 1 Patti, myself, Thamayanthi, Parker, Julia, Parker Baoyan, DongMei, Alex, Marina and Zhengzheng
- Graduate Students: Patti, Jarka, me, Zhenpeng, Haiyan, Julia, Marina, Peter, Ruo, Baoyan
- Graduate Students: My birthday, 2005; Patti, me, Zhengzheng, Haiyan, The Miata.
- Graduate Students: Zhengzheng, Jarka, me, Minyan, Marina, Alex, The Miata.
- Graduate Students (early), Nilotpal, Tan
- Family Pics 2002 Christmas 2002 party, Cath and Don, Betsy and Ken, Julia and Victor, Victoria, Patti and me, Mom and Jarka
Copyright © April 15, 1997
Most recent revision: April , 2019
mjbest@uwaterloo.ca
Department
of Combinatorics and Optimization
Michael J. Best, Quadratic Programming with Computer Programs ,
Taylor & Francis. 2016 (439 pages).
Preface Errata: Text
All Matlab Programs from the QP Book: Download Press the link to the left, then choose "Save File".
This will download the file "QPProgs.zip" to the downloads directory of your browser. QPProg.zip contains all the .m
files in my Quadratic Programming book.
Michael J. Best, Portfolio Optimization, Taylor & Francis, 2010 (222 pages).
About the Author
Preface
Errata: Text Errata:
Solution Manual .
