10 Facts About Emmy Noether, First Lady of Mathematics

Despite facing adversity as a woman in a male-dominated field, Emmy Noether is regarded as one of the most important mathematicians of the 20th century, with a significant impact on both mathematics and physics.

Following are ten amazing facts about Emmy Noether, who is often called the First Lady of mathematics:

1. Emmy Noether came from a family of mathematicians. Her father, Max Noether, was a mathematician and her brother, Fritz Noether, was also a mathematician.

2. Noether studied several languages and literature before pursuing mathematics at the University of Erlangen, where she earned her PhD in 1907.

3. In the early part of her career, Noether was not allowed to teach at any university due to her gender. Women were not treated as equal in academia at that time. She worked as an unpaid lecturer.

4. Noether is known for her groundbreaking work in abstract algebra. Perhaps her most famous contribution is a theorem which links symmetries in physics to conservation laws. Noether's theorem explains why there are laws like conservation of energy or conservation of momentum.

5. In 1915, Noether moved to the University of Göttingen, one of the world's leading centers of mathematics at the time. She collaborated with prominent mathematicians, including David Hilbert.

6. Emmy Noether also helped Albert Einstein, particularly in understanding and resolving issues within his theory of general relativity. In 1918 she proved two theorems that were basic for both general relativity and elementary particle physics.

7. In 1933, Noether fled Nazi Germany due to her Jewish heritage and moved to the United States, where she continued her work at Bryn Mawr College, where she was appointed as a professor.

8. Noether passed away on April 14, 1935, at the age of 53, after a surgery to remove an ovarian cyst. Noether's influence on mathematics continues to be immense, and her work laid the foundation for much of the development of modern abstract algebra and theoretical physics.

9. Noether's work was recognized by leading mathematicians of her time, including Pavel Alexandrov, Albert Einstein, Jean Dieudonné, Hermann Weyl, and Norbert Wiener, who described her as "the most important woman in the history of mathematics."

10. Despite facing adversity as a woman in a male-dominated field, Noether made a strong mark in academia. Einstein himself wrote in an obituary that she was "the most significant creative mathematical genius thus far produced since the higher education of women began".