Mathematician, mother of modern algebra.
Fräulein Noether was the greatest mathematical genius since the beginning of higher education for women, believed Albert Einstein.
She probably inherited her passion for mathematics from her father. She was born in the German city of Erlangen on 23 March 1882. Her love of mathematics became the motivation that allowed her to patiently endure all the disadvantages of her development in this field. At the University of Bavaria, she officially studied pedagogy. She was only able to attend lectures on mathematics as a free listener, because at the turn of the 11th century some career paths were inaccessible to women. Thanks to her predisposition and tenacity, she was admitted to the examinations and received her doctorate. Her talent was recognised by researchers at the Institute of Mathematics, with whom she began working immediately after her doctorate. She worked relentlessly on her own projects, climbing the career ladder, in a world dominated by male professors who caused difficulties for her to obtain degrees. Because of her gender, despite her research and participation in university projects, she did not receive a regular salary or remuneration. She lived off the family fortune, which enabled her to devote herself entirely to her interests. She was only offered a paid contract to teach algebra after sixteen years of work.
During this time, Emmy managed to establish a strong position in academia, proving to be an invaluable expert in one-to-one consultations. “My methods (of algebra) are really methods of working and thinking,” she believed. In her scientific work, she explored then undiscovered areas of abstract algebra, now part of the canon of mathematical works. Her theorems were fundamental to the development of physics, especially in the area of the relationship of conservation principles to continuous symmetries. (Noether’s theorem)
Due to her Jewish background and the politics of Nazi Germany, she decided to emigrate in the 1930s. In the United States, she found an environment that appreciated the value of her work and allowed her to develop her full potential. She died prematurely in 1935.
