Verhulst's equation is commonly referred to as the logistic equation, and was rediscovered and popularized in 1920 when Pearl and Reed used it to predict population growth in the United States.

For example, an area's population increases at an exponential rate until limiting factors slow the growth. Eventually, growth stops altogether. All logistic functions take the form of N divided by ...

Two basic principles are involved, the idea of exponential growth and its ultimate control. The basics of population ecology emerge from some of the most elementary considerations of biological facts.