Emmy Noether (1882–1935)

Today is the birthday of mathematician Emmy Noether, born in Erlangen, Germany in 1882. She mastered her craft by auditing classes at the University of Erlangen for several years; finally, in 1904, the university allowed women to enroll as students. Noether got her PhD from Erlangen in 1907 and then worked there for eight years without pay. Her accomplishments caught the attention of many colleagues, and in 1915 David Hilbert and Felix Klein invited her to the University of Göttingen to explore the math behind Einstein’s brand new general theory of relativity. In 1918 Noether showed that symmetries in nature are necessarily accompanied by laws of conservation. This major insight, known as Noether’s theorem, has proven pivotal for research in quantum and particle physics. Noether also made many contributions to algebra, particularly ring theory. In 1933 she left Nazi Germany for Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania, where she taught until her death in 1935.

Date in History: 23 March 1882