Ilya Prigogin

Ilya Prigogine, precursor of chaos theory, was born on January 25 , 1917 and died on May 28 , 2003 , at the age of 86 in Brussels , the city where he lived. Great humanist philosopher, his conclusions help us understand why we exist and why the origins of life were not a coincidence. His books, translated into many languages, range from the study of thermodynamics to the connection between science and humanism.

Summary

[ disguise ]

• 1 Nobel Prize
• 2 Dissipative systems
• 3 See also
• 4 Sources

Nobel Prize

The 1977 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Dr. Prigoginen after having been sidelined for almost 20 years, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, primarily for his work on what he called dissipative structures and for his contributions to thermodynamic disequilibrium, particularly the theory of irreversible processes, have stimulated many scientists around the world and may have profound consequences for our understanding of biological systems. He graduated in Chemistry from the Free University of Brussels. He was Regent Professor and Ashbel Smith Professor of Engineering Physics and Chemistry at the University of Texas at Austin. In 1967 he founded the Center for Statistical Mechanics , which was later called the Ilya Prigogine Center for Studies of Statistical Mechanics and Complex Systems. Since 1959 he has been Director of the Solvay International Institute in Brussels , Belgium . In 1989 , Prigogine was appointed Viscount by the King of Belgium. He was a member of 63 national and professional organizations, including the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. His most recent international activities have been as Special Advisor to the European Community in Brussels, Belgium, Honorary Member of the UNESCO World Commission for Culture and Development, chaired by Pérez de Cuellar; Honorary Member of the London Diplomatic Academy and Honorary President of the International Commission on Distance Education (ECOSOC, United Nations )

Born in Moscow , Ilya Prigogine obtained Belgian nationality when he emigrated with his parents, at the age of four. A piano virtuoso, as a young man he hesitated between pursuing a musical career or scientific education; He finally opted for science and studied Physics and Chemistry at the Free University of Brussels, where he served as professor of Thermodynamics .

Dissipative systems

The formation of ordered dissipative systems demonstrates that it is possible to create order from disorder, explained the Nobel press release. The description of these structures led to many fundamental discoveries and had applications in various fields, not only in chemistry, but in biology and social systems.”

He opposed Einstein for the role he attributed to chance; he studied chaos, uncertainty and non-equilibrium. He did not admit a deterministic conception of the universe.

Research Institutes and prominent universities honored him with academic distinctions, including more than twenty Honorary Doctorates. Among the recognitions obtained are the Legion of Honor of France and the Rising Sun of Japan .

During one of his last visits to Buenos Aires , to participate in the inauguration of the International Scientific Research Institute of the University of Salvador, he said: “Science is an element of culture. I see my work as a reconciliation, because it shows that the “The problem of time can be addressed by science and leads to philosophy .”

For Prigogine, time was the lost dimension of physics , and his lifelong efforts were directed toward understanding its role in the universe. That’s why his contributions were mostly in irreversibility, or, as he called it, “the arrow of time.”

“His theories, he said, bridge the abyss that exists between the biological and social fields of research.” By giving him a random leading role, Prigogine established the impossibility of having absolute certainties. He also demonstrated that in the world there is a simultaneous creation of order and disorder