Women in STEM - Emmy Noether

Amalie Emmy Noether was born in Germany in 1882. Her father and brothers were all mathematicians, and while Emmy was originally going to become an English and French language teacher, she decided to join in with the rest of her family and obtained her degree in mathematics from the University of Erlangen where her father was a lecturer.

After receiving her doctorate, Emmy taught mathematics and her algebraic understanding became world-renowned. She developed what is now known as “Noether’s Theorem” which links math and physics in ways related to the laws of nature, conservation, and symmetry.

Her theory states, “Every differentiable symmetry of the action of a physical system has a corresponding conversation law.”

These ideas are now critical to how we understand the inner workings of the universe today.

In fact, when he came to understand her theorem, Albert Einstein dubbed Emmy, “the most significant mathematical genius thus far produced since the higher education of women began.”

To learn more about Emmy and the contributions she has made to our understanding of the fabric of the universe, check out this YouTube video:

And her Wikipedia page:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmy_Noether