Meet Emmy Noether - a genius you probably haven't heard of
Title: Meet Emmy Noether - a genius you probably haven't heard of
23.11.2024 by Ignacy Kielek
Introduction:
Through all human history, great discoveries were made by women and it’s a fact. What’s heart - breaking is the fact that a lot of them are notwithstanding not acknowledged by the general public. In this blog I would like to tell you a story of a woman who has for a long time fought for her identity as a mathematician, scientist - Emmy Noether.
About Emmy (some background information):
She was born on 23 march of 1882, in Erlangen, Germany. She was a daughter of a jewish renowned professor of mathematics - Max Noether. At a very young age she didn’t stand out academically although she was known to be clever and friendly. She grew up with four brothers. She showed early proficiency in English and French. In 1900 she took the examination for teachers and she passed with a general score of (“very good”). As a result she was qualified to teach English and French at schools for girls. However, she decided to continue her studies at the University of Erlangen. Only was she allowed to audit classes (not participate fully) if the individual professors, whose lectures she wanted to attend gave her a permission to. At this point you may be tempted to ask: “so what? What did she do, which was so extraordinary?”
“The mother of modern algebra”
She introduced the concept of Noetherian rings, which is a cornerstone in module theory. She further developed the theory of ideals. She helped develop homological algebra. Not only did she made significant contributions to modern algebra, but through her advancement in the algebraic invariants she also made a milestone for physics. She created two theorems, called Noether’s theorems. What’s an invariant, you may ask, well an invariant can be anything which isn’t changed after a transformation. Imagine you move a cup of coffee to your right—it’s still a cup of coffee, right? Similarly, when mathematicians multiply rational numbers, the result is still a rational number. This means that rationality is invariant under multiplication. We can connect this to the notion of symmetry. Look at the pictures below:
Symmetry can mean a lot more than what we typically associate with it. Look at the card starting from the left. When I rotate this card by a certain amount it will look the same - this is a special type of symmetry - called rotational symmetry. Isn’t it similar to invariance? We can also say that how the card looks is invariant under rotation by one hundred eighty degrees. Emmy noticed in her work "Invariante Variationsprobleme", that when a there is a symmetry in a physical system there is something in the system which was unchanged (conserved). This is a ground - breaking idea. Because this provides an explanation as to why any conservation laws exist (why energy is conserved). It is also very useful for analysing complex systems. Modern physicist use Noether’s theorem extensively in the current research. It was one of the most profound ideas, which led to development of the Standard Model, which is our current best explanation as to how the universe works.
Final remarks and conclusion
Emmy Noether has fought for her identity as a scientist and throughout her life she has countless times proved that women can succeed in science. Just Two years before she decided to study maths, the Academic Senate of the university had declared that allowing mixed-sex education would "overthrow all academic order". She was one of the two women in the Erlangen University out of 986 students. I wanted to tell you this, because every great scientist who knew her at the time when she was studying or already making research, really wanted her to be allowed to do everything a man could do in the scientific world. To elucidate, David Hilbert, Felix Klein (great mathematicians by the way) challenged the views of their colleagues and invited Emmy to the Gottingen mathematics department and they have become her fervent supporters throughout her journey.
I encourage you to share your thoughts on this topic and maybe look for some other examples of women who have contributed to science (there are plenty). Not to just empower women (that's not what I mean by writting this blog), but because they have done interesting things, which are worth mentioning (designing DNA for example). Treat them as people.
Don’t forget to like and subscribe to my blog for more!
Please leave a comment to let me know if you find the topic interesting (if not then please tell me about it) and what I could maybe change in how I introduced the story, I would be glad for any feedback!
Sources and some material for further reading:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxlHLqJ9I0A&t=405s&ab_channel=LookingGlassUniverse
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homological_algebra
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invariant_(mathematics)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmy_Noether
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Emmy-Noether
DNA story:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIP0lYrdirI
What an incredible blog post! You’ve done a fantastic job shedding light on Emmy Noether’s contributions to mathematics and physics, and the challenges she faced as a woman in a male-dominated field. Her story is truly inspiring—not only for her groundbreaking ideas but also for her perseverance in the face of societal obstacles. I really can appreciated how you broke down complex concepts like invariants and symmetry into accessible examples, such as the cup of coffee and the card's rotational symmetry. It made her work relatable, even to someone without a strong background in mathematics or physics. The connection between Noether’s theorem and the conservation laws is fascinating, and it’s amazing to see how her ideas continue to influence modern science. Your inclusion of historical context, like the opposition to mixed-sex education and the support from figures like David Hilbert, really highlights the social barriers she overcame. It’s a reminder of how important it is to challenge outdated norms and support talent, regardless of gender.This was an engaging and informative read that left me wanting to learn more about other unsung women in science. Thank you for sharing Emmy Noether’s story—it’s one that absolutely deserves to be told. I’ll definitely be checking out the additional resources you’ve linked and looking forward to your next blog post!
OdpowiedzUsuńI didn't know about Emmy Noether before, but she sounds like an amazing scientist. It's sad to see how much women's contribution to science is overshadowed by men. There are plenty of great contributions to the world made by women. Maria Skłodowska-Curie was a Polish-French physicist and chemist who made groundbreaking contributions to the field of radioactivity. She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, she discovered the elements polonium and radium and developed techniques for isolating radioactive isotopes. I'm glad we live in times when society is striving for equality, your blog mentions a profound problem, thank you for bringing it up. By the way, I think you did a great job of explaining complex ideas in a way that's easy to understand.
OdpowiedzUsuńI'm looking forward to reading more of your blog posts!
I agree with statement that it is sad to see how women in science are overshadowed my men. Recently, I have read an article talking about a piece of work of a man that stated that women were inferior to men from the beginning. He compared women to rather apes than the "better specie" that men represent. But, just how you acknowledged thatis not true. We know many of talented women that put in a lot into our science knowledge over the years. Also, the the blog's author, thank you for sharing such an interesting piece of information. It was good to read. I am also looking forward to your future entries!!
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