The purpose of this article is to provide a survey of the various stages in the
development of response surface methodology (RSM). The coverage of these
stages is organized in three parts that describe the evolution of RSM since its
introduction in the early 1950s. Part I covers the period, 1951–1975, during which the
so-called classical RSM was developed. This includes a review of basic experimental
designs for fitting linear response surface models, in addition to a description of
methods for the determination of optimum operating conditions. Part II, which
covers the period, 1976–1999, discusses more recent modeling techniques in RSM,
in addition to a coverage of Taguchi’s robust parameter design and its response
surface alternative approach. Part III provides a coverage of further extensions
and research directions in modern RSM. This includes discussions concerning
response surface models with random effects, generalized linear models, and
graphical techniques for comparing response surface designs.