Théophile De Donder | |
|---|---|
 De Donder at the 1927Solvay Conference. Appearing in front of De Donder isPaul Dirac. | |
| Born | Théophile Ernest De Donder (1872-08-19)19 August 1872 |
| Died | 11 May 1957(1957-05-11) (aged 84) |
| Alma mater | Université Libre de Bruxelles |
| Known for | Being the father of irreversiblethermodynamics Chemical affinity Extent of reaction De Donder gauge De Donder method of analysis De Donder–Weyl theory |
| Awards | ICM Speaker (1920) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Statistical physics |
| Institutions | Université Libre de Bruxelles |
| Academic advisors | Henri Poincaré |
| Doctoral students | Ilya Prigogine Léon Van Hove Théophile Lepage |
Théophile Ernest De Donder[a] (French:[dədɔ̃dɛʁ]; 19 August 1872 – 11 May 1957) was aBelgian mathematician, physicist and chemist famous for his work (published in 1923) in developing correlations between the Newtonian concept ofchemical affinity and the Gibbsian concept offree energy.
He received his doctorate in physics and mathematics from theUniversité Libre de Bruxelles in 1899, for a thesis entitledSur la Théorie des Invariants Intégraux (On the Theory of Integral Invariants).[1]
He was professor between 1911 and 1942, at theUniversité Libre de Bruxelles. Initially he continued the work ofHenri Poincaré andÉlie Cartan. From 1914 on, he was influenced by the work ofAlbert Einstein and was an enthusiastic proponent of thetheory of relativity. He gained significant reputation in 1923, when he developed his definition ofchemical affinity. He pointed out a connection between thechemical affinity and theGibbs free energy.
He is considered the father ofthermodynamics of irreversible processes.[2] De Donder's work was later developed further by his doctoral studentIlya Prigogine. De Donder was an associate and friend ofAlbert Einstein.He was in 1927, one of the participants of the fifthSolvay Conference on Physics, that took place at the International Solvay Institute for Physics in Belgium. Additionally, De Donder attended the Solvay Conferences of 1924, 1930, and 1948.
