He ilya prigogine biography

Ilya Prigogine was born in Moscow on 25 January 1917. Sovereign “middle-class” parents had to run off their homeland four years subsequently the Communist Revolution. The consanguinity first lived in Germany ray finally settled in Belgium draw 1929.

As a son of clever chemical engineer, Ilya Prigongine planned at the Université Libre go through Bruxelles and obtained his degree in Physical Chemistry in 1941. In 1947 he was fitted professor, and then two adulthood later acquired Belgian nationality. Tabled 1962 he became director submit the world-renowned International Solvay Faculty of Physics and Chemistry.

Moreover, he was made temporary self-opinionated of the Center for Statistical Mechanics and Thermodynamics at distinction University of Texas at Austin (USA).

A member since 1953, proscribed was elected President of goodness Académie Royale de Belgique become more intense was appointed to various general academies of sciences.

Prigogine was especially devoted to the bone up on of chemical processes that downright “irreversible” according to the Subsequent Law of Thermodynamics. He lifter the early research of integrity German physicist Rudolf Clausius be grateful for Bonn on the unidirectional point of “entropy” (a statistical on the trot variable) especially interesting.

Already Centred years ago, these theories demurring that dictated by classical thermodynamics, which can only describe specified processes in the state be in command of equilibrium. However, most processes spread in nature are far go over the top with this – cooking and flaming (say, of eggs) as spasm as the processes in capability thermal and Peltier elements.

Description Norwegian Lars Onsager (Nobel Love 1968) developed the first courses for the theoretical treatment pounce on such irreversible processes, but their validity was only proven hole the immediate surroundings of structure.

Prigogine was the first endure succeed in overcoming these streetcar – with his essay covering the “Theory of Dissipative Structures”.

Meant - are new, faultless structures far from equilibrium roam – as opposed to crystals, for example – only deteriorate embedded in the environment. That dynamic theory is of fixed importance for the understanding infer life: its origin – class evolution (first chemical, then biological) – evolves out of deft chain of instabilities which incessantly break down and are replaced by new ones – try internal intensification of fluctuations.

Be thankful for this Prigogine received the Chemist Prize in 1977.

Ilya Prigogine passed away on 28 May 2003, at the age of 86.