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Ilya Prigogine Quotes

1917–2003 Belgium

Ilya Prigogine (25 January 1917 – 28 May 2003) was a Belgian physical chemist of Russian-Jewish origin, noted for his work on dissipative structures, complex systems, and irreversibility. Prigogine's work most notably earned him the 1977 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, as well as the Francqui Prize in 1955 and the Rumford Medal in 1976.

Belgium
Academics
Chemists
Nobel laureates
Physicists

Also known as: Prigogine, Ilya

Random Ilya Prigogine quote

11 quotes

We have seen that the formation and maintenance of self-organizing systems are compatible with the laws of physical chemistry.”

Thermodynamics of Evolution (1972)

The functional order maintained within living systems seems to defy the Second Law; nonequilibrium thermodynamics describes how such systems come to terms with entropy.

Thermodynamics of Evolution (1972)

The ideas of nonequilibrium order and of the search for stability extend Darwin’s concept back to the prebiotic stage by redefining the “fittest”.

Thermodynamics of Evolution (1972)

Coherent behavior is the characteristic feature of biological systems.

In an isolated system, which cannot exchange energy and matter with the surroundings, this tendency is expressed in terms of a function of the macroscopic state of the system: the entropy.”

Thermodynamics of Evolution (1972)

The evolution of a physicochemical system leads to an equilibrium state of maximum disorder.

Thermodynamics of Evolution (1972)

Whatever we call reality, it is revealed to us only through the active construction in which we participate.

Order Out of Chaos: Man's New Dialogue with Nature (1984)

Entropy is the price of structure

Order Out of Chaos: Man's New Dialogue with Nature (1984)

The problem of time in physics and chemistry is closely related to the formulation of the second law of thermodynamics. Therefore another possible title of this lecture could have been: “the macroscopic and microscopic aspects of the second law of thermodynamics”

Time, Structure and Fluctuations (1977)

Equilibrium thermodynamics was an achievement of the nineteenth century, nonequilibrium thermodynamics was developed in the twentieth century, and Onsager's relations mark a crucial point in the shift of interest away from equilibrium to non-equilibrium.

Order Out of Chaos: Man's New Dialogue with Nature (1984)

The statistical probability that organic structures and the most precisely harmonized reactions that typify living organisms would be generated by accident, is zero.

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Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Ilya Prigogine (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.