The Mathematical Legacy of Andrzej Lasota

Abstract

Professor Andrzej Lasota (1932–2006) was a Polish mathematician with wide ranging interests in dynamical systems, probability theory and ergodic theory who saw the inter-relationships between all three and who successfully synthesized these apparently disparate fields. He used that synthesis to both further mathematical research as well as to investigate problems in biology. One of his over-riding interests was the way in which seemingly “random” or “probabilistic” processes (in a mathematical sense) could actually be thought of as equivalently coming from deterministic dynamics. How did we each come to know him and his work? Michael C. Mackey met Lasota in Cracow in 1977 through his collaborator Dr. MariaWazewska-Czyzewska, a hematologist and daughter of Professor Tadeusz Wazewski. That meeting blossomed into an almost 30-year-long friendship and collaboration in biomathematics. Marta Tyran-Kaminska met Lasota during her mathematical studies at the University of Silesia in Katowice in 1992 and did her Ph.D. under his supervision. Hans-Otto Walther met Lasota during a year at Michigan State University, 1979–1980, where Pavel Brunovský was also visiting, and they had all been brought together by Shui-Nee Chow.