Prigogine, << prih GAW zhuhn, >> Ilya (1917-2003), a Russian-born Belgian theoretical chemist, was awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1977 for his contributions to a scientific field called nonequilibrium thermodynamics. Thermodynamics is the study of heat and other forms of energy. Equilibrium is a steady state in which such quantities as temperature and pressure remain constant. In nonequilibrium conditions, an external influence may cause these quantities to change. See Thermodynamics .
Prigogine expanded some of American chemist Lars Onsager’s thermodynamic theories (see Onsager, Lars ). Prigogine extended them to cover both irreversible and reversible processes supposedly resulting in equilibrium. He encountered criticism from other scientists for his emphasis on irreversible and nonequilibrium phenomena, which were often regarded as unsuitable material for study. Prigogine wrote and co-wrote several books, including Non-Equilibrium Statistical Mechanics (1962), Thermodynamic Theory of Structure, Stability and Fluctuations (1971), and Order out of Chaos—Man’s New Dialogue with Nature (1984).
Ilya Prigogine was born on Jan. 25, 1917, in Moscow. His family left Russia in 1921 and lived in Germany until moving to Belgium in 1929. He acquired Belgian nationality in 1949. Prigogine studied chemistry at the Free University of Brussels, Belgium. He became professor there in 1947 and held a chair of chemistry from 1951 to 1987, when he became emeritus professor. From 1967 to 1987, he served as director of the Ilya Prigogine Center for Statistical Mechanics, Thermodynamics and Complex Systems at the University of Texas, Austin. Belgium’s King Baudouin made him a viscount in 1989. Prigogine died on May 28, 2003.
