Vito Volterra

Today, Lotka is mostly remembered for a set of differential equations describing the population dynamics of two interacting species, a predator and its prey.

These equations were also independently derived by the Italian mathematician and physicist Vito Volterra.

The Lotka-Volterra equations have since been used as a staple mathematical tool in population ecology.

Though based on idealizations and simplifying assumptions, these equations can nonetheless reflect observed fluctuations in the population dynamics of real-world animal species and even beyond biology, such as in economic scenarios.