Ilya Prigogine was awarded the 1977 Nobel Prize in chemistry for his pioneering work on nonequilibrium thermodynamics. He revolutionized chemistry by introducing the concepts of irreversible time and probability in his approach to unstable chemical states and providing mathematical models of dissipative structures and their self-organization, the processes by which disorder progresses to order. Taking a highly philosophical approach to science, Prigogine has redefined the framework of the laws of nature, insisting on a less deterministic understanding of the natural world.

Prigogine was born in Moscow, Russia, on January 25, 1917, two months before the collapse of the czarist regime and nine months before the Bolshevik revolution. His father, Roman, was a chemical engineer and a factory owner, and his mother, Julia (Wichman) Prigogine, had studied music at the Moscow conservatory of music. Prigogine's brother, Alexandre, who was four years older, also became a chemist.

Four years after he was born...