The mathematical legacy of Vito Volterra

Vito Volterra's mathematical work stretches over the period 1881 to 1940. His first paper was written while still an undergraduate student and not yet twenty years of age, while his last was published only months before his death in 1940 at the age of eighty. His work stretches over a long period, during which great mathematical strides were made, and mathematical styles changed considerably. Likewise, he danced from one subject to another, covering wide swathes of continuum mechanics, astronomy, differential equations and mathematical biology. Unlike many mathematical colleagues, he did not settle into a happy but intellectually unproductive old age. He wrote several masterly textbooks, some parts of which give summaries of the field which cannot be bettered even today. Finally, he was no mean historian of science, as can be seen from some of the semi-popular essays he wrote. Meanwhile he had an active life as a politician and public figure. In this talk I shall give a brief outline of Volterra's life, career and mathematics, concentrating particularly on areas in which his work, sometimes accidentally, had lasting influence.