In this paper, we review the milestones in the development of heuristic methods for optimization over the last 50 years. We propose a critical analysis of the main findings and contributions, mainly from a European perspective. Starting with the roots of the area that can be traced back to the classical philosophers, we follow the historical path of heuristics and metaheuristics in the field of operations research and list the main milestones, up to the latest proposals to hybridize metaheuristics with machine learning. We pay special attention to the theories that changed our way of thinking about problem solving, and to the role played by the European Journal of Operational Research in the development of these theories. Our approach emphasizes methodologies and their connections with related areas, which permits to identify potential lines of future research.

中文翻译：

---

元启发法 50 年

在本文中，我们回顾了过去 50 年启发式优化方法发展的里程碑。我们建议主要从欧洲的角度对主要发现和贡献进行批判性分析。我们从可以追溯到古典哲学家的领域的根源开始，追踪启发式和元启发式在运筹学领域的历史路径，并列出主要里程碑，直到将元启发式与机器学习混合的最新建议。我们特别关注那些改变了我们解决问题的思维方式的理论，以及《欧洲运筹学杂志》在这些理论发展中所发挥的作用。我们的方法强调方法论及其与相关领域的联系，这可以确定未来研究的潜在方向。