See alsoKINETIC EQUIVALENCE.pre-exponential factor SeeENERGY OF ACTIVATION;
ENTROPY OF ACTIVATION.
Prigogine, Ilya(1917–2003) BelgianChemist Ilya
Prigogine was born in Moscow, Russia, on January 25,
- His scientific work dealt with the understanding
of the role of time in the physical sciences and in biol-
ogy and contributed significantly to the understanding
of irreversible processes, particularly in systems far
from equilibrium. He obtained both his undergraduate
and graduate education in chemistry at the Universite
Libre de Bruxelles.
He was awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry in
1977 “for his contributions to non-equilibrium ther-
modynamics, particularly the theory of dissipative
structures.”
Before his death on May 28, 2003, he was regental
professor and Ashbel Smith Professor of Physics and
Chemical Engineering at the University of Texas at
Austin. In 1967 he founded the Center for Statistical
Mechanics, later renamed the Ilya Prigogine Center for
Studies in Statistical Mechanics and Complex Systems.
In 1959 he became the director of the International
Solvay Institutes in Brussels, Belgium. In 1989 Pri-
gogine was awarded the title of viscount by the king of
Belgium. He received 53 honorary degrees as well as
numerous awards and was a member of 64 leading sci-
entific organizations.
He authored several books, including Modern
Thermodynamics: From Heat Engines to Dissipative
Structures(with D. Kondepudi), 1998; The End of Cer-
tainty, Time, Chaos and the New Laws of Nature(with
I. Stengers), 1997; and Exploring Complexity(with G.
Nicolis), 1989.
primary kinetic electrolyte effect SeeKINETIC ELEC-
TROLYTE EFFECT.
primary kinetic isotope effect SeeISOTOPE EFFECT,
KINETIC.primary standard A standard that is designated or
widely acknowledged as having the highest metrologi-
cal qualities and whose value is accepted without ref-
erence to other standards of the same quantity.primary structure The amino-acid SEQUENCEof a
protein or NUCLEOTIDEsequence of DNAor RNA.
See alsoRIBONUCLEIC ACID.primary voltaic cell A voltaic cell that cannot be
recharged once the reactants are consumed.primer A short preexisting polynucleotide chain to
which new deoxyribonucleotides can be added by
DNA polymerase.220 pre-exponential factor
Primary voltaic cell. Produces electricity by chemical action and
is irreversible