University of Texas Austin - Cactus Yearbook (Austin, TX)

Page 196 text:

Prigogine ' s Nobe Another Firs Dr. Ilya Pngogine spent 30 years contemplating and research- ing the mechanics of order and disorder in nature. As a result of the effort, the Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences announced that the Belgian scientist was to receive the 1977 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Pngogine became the University ' s first Nobel Prize laureate. Prigogine spent nearly half of his lifetime puzzling over the biological question How did life begin? His predecessors have assumed that the first life forms organized themselves by pure chance; by random-events at the molecular level. According to this theory, the origin of life occurred as the result of the highly improbable event of the spontaneous formation of DNA, the complex chemical compound responsible for life. In this way, scientists were isolating life from the rest of the physical universe, contradicting one of the most important gen- eralizations in science, the second law of thermodynamics. According to the second law, a natural tendency for disorder, or entropy, increases within any system of molecules. The exact opposite occurs, however, in the complex machines of living organisms. Instead, biological reactions result on levels of ever increasing organization and diversification. Resolving the conflict, Prigogine ' s Nobel Prize-winning theory extended the laws of thermodynamics to include biological systems and other self-organizing phenomena such as cities. According to his theory, dissipative structures use energy from outside sources to build and maintain inherent order. In this way the structures are open systems, utilizing energy and produc- ing disorder. A living system depends on its interaction with the outside world, Prigogine explained. Whether it is a simple bacterial cell, a human indivi dual or a city, death will follow isolation once reserves have been exhausted, he said. It can survive only if there is a continuous inflow of food, fuel and other commodi- ties, and an outflow of product wastes. Prigogine incorporated three elements in his theory: time, structure and complexity. In time, the concept of time, the laws of change become sufficiently complex to be compared. The Russian-born scientist drew on examples from history, lit- erature and sociology to illustrate his theory. Moving beyond the boundaries of science, Prigogine explained that it is not enough to know what the particle is. you must also know its function. The individual and society define each other. he said. Unlike a crystal, a town will decay if it is taken out of context. Embed- ded structures interact with other structures, he said. Dr. Prigogine divided his time between UT and the Free Uni- versity of Brussels, where he served as director of the Interna- tional Institute of Physics and Chemistry. At UT he directed the recently-renamed Ilya Prigogine Center for Studies m Statistical Mechanics. He first came to The University of Texas in 1968. Hya Prieogine Dr. Ilya Prigogine became Receiving an undergraduate degree in Psychology, Prigogine went on to earn a Master ' s Degree in Physics and a PhD in Chemistry. He has also earned a Degregatton Degree, a higher degree awarded by the Free University of Brussels, in Physical Chemistry. Prigogine completed all of his degrees in Brussels. people le to large relate as saenc very diversified ople ' s lives Besides gogine said | intellectuality of are uninformed. ' societies. r educa have a big i that everyo through col lab '

Page 195 text:

First to come and last to leave, many graduate students haunt the library. Working at desks in obscure offices can be lonely for TA ' s. it.Ita ssunls (he education psy sorteachtSa.nl- I realities of the earl; I i of lie academ I tols relisted trips to IJK master ' s or doctoral! ' : ' rifli ROB Sculpture students suit-out to work with the bronze melting furnaces. Graduate art students spend many long hours working in various labs on campus. Graduate Students 187

Page 197 text:

SS8S%5? r$?fc fe : A| j, 5 ;. t Thirty years of research brought Prigogine this Nobel Prize for Chemistry. King Gustavus VI of Sweden presenti Prigogine ' s Nobel Prize October II, 1977. Stated between Gerhard Fonken, executive assistant lo the President, and UT President Lorene Rogers, Prigogine prepares to speak after his Nobel award UNIS IlvaPr..