The character arc of Emmy Noether

A life drawn by Character Arc from the public record

Born 23 March 1882 in Erlangen, the daughter of a mathematician. Died 14 April 1935 at Bryn Mawr, aged fifty three. Between the two sit a doctorate in 1907, seven years teaching without pay, a move to Gottingen in 1915 over faculty objections, lectures advertised under another man's name, the theorem of 1918, a habilitation in 1919, an award in 1932, dismissal in 1933 and emigration. The line below draws that whole life in order.

Tap the line to pluck it. Hover or tap any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of her life; the sources are at the foot of the page.

Who was Emmy Noether?

Seven years unpaid, and then she held up physics.

Her father Max Noether was a mathematician, so the subject was in the house, though she first meant to teach languages. She took her doctorate at Erlangen in 1907 under Paul Gordan, on invariant theory. Then, from 1908 to 1915, she taught at the Erlangen Mathematical Institute without being paid a thing, sometimes standing in for her ailing father. Seven years of the work, none of the salary.

In 1915 David Hilbert and Felix Klein brought her to Gottingen, which was then the centre of mathematics, and the faculty objected to a woman on the staff. One of them asked what the soldiers would think when they came back from the war. Hilbert defended her, and her lectures were advertised under his name so that she could give them at all.

Shortly after arriving she proved what is now Noether's theorem, presented in 1918, which links the symmetries of a physical system to its conservation laws. It has been called one of the most important theorems ever proved for guiding modern physics; energy is conserved because the laws do not change with time, and she is the reason we know that is the same statement. She was habilitated in 1919 and eventually paid, though never made a full professor. In 1932 she shared the Ackermann-Teubner award and addressed the International Congress in Zurich. In April 1933 a civil service law removed her from her post. She went on teaching students in her apartment, then took a position at Bryn Mawr and lectured at Princeton. Her line is worth reading for how much of it was done for nothing.

The moments

Emmy Noether's timeline.

The 1900s

13 Dec 1907

A doctorate at Erlangen

Milestone, and it changed her direction. She had meant to teach languages. She did this instead.

~1908

Seven years, no pay

Setback, and it changed everything. Seven years of the job and none of the salary.

The 1910s

1 Jun 1914

Give it up, or keep working for nothing

Crossroads, decided.

The paths laid out: keep working unpaid, taken, or teach languages instead. Hilbert and Klein brought her to Gottingen, and within a few years she had proved the theorem modern physics rests on.

Apr 1915

Hilbert brought her to Gottingen

Milestone, and it changed everything. The centre of mathematics in the world, and they had to fight to get her in the door.

Jun 1915

What will the soldiers think

Setback, and it changed everything. Her own lectures, under another man's name, so that she could give them at all.

23 Jul 1918

Noether's theorem

Milestone, and it changed everything. Energy is conserved because the laws do not change with time. She is why we know those are the same sentence.

4 Jun 1919

Habilitated at last

Milestone, and it changed her direction. Eleven years after she started teaching, she was allowed to be paid for it.

The 1930s

Sep 1932

Zurich, and an award

Milestone, and it changed her direction. A plenary address at the Congress. The highest platform the subject has.

7 Apr 1933

Removed from her post

Setback, and it changed everything. Out of the university. She went on teaching in her own front room.

Nov 1933

Bryn Mawr

Milestone, and it changed her direction. A new country at fifty one, and students again.

The line ends 14 Apr 1935, at Bryn Mawr, at fifty three, after an operation. What it set moving is in every physics course taught since: a theorem that explains why anything is conserved at all, proved by a woman whose lectures had to be advertised under somebody else's name.

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Emmy Noether: frequently asked questions

What people ask about her line.

What was Emmy Noether's character arc?

A mathematician who taught for seven years without pay, was brought to Gottingen in 1915 over faculty objections, had to lecture under another man's name, proved a theorem modern physics rests on, and was dismissed in 1933.

What is Noether's theorem?

The result she presented in 1918 connecting the symmetries of a physical system to its conservation laws. It has been called one of the most important theorems ever proved for guiding modern physics, and it is why conservation of energy is explicable at all.

Why did Emmy Noether lecture under another name?

Because the Gottingen faculty objected to a woman on the staff, one member asking what the soldiers would think when they returned from the war. Hilbert defended her, and her lectures were advertised under his name so that she could give them.

Was Emmy Noether paid for her work?

Not at first. She taught at Erlangen from 1908 to 1915 with no compensation at all. She received formal habilitation in 1919 and eventually obtained paid positions, but she was never made a full professor.

What happened to Emmy Noether in 1933?

A German civil service law removed her from her position in April 1933. She accepted the dismissal calmly and went on mentoring students from her apartment, then secured a post at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania later that year.

How did Emmy Noether die?

In April 1935, at fifty three, after surgery for a large ovarian cyst was followed by a severe infection. She died on 14 April at Bryn Mawr, where her ashes were interred beneath the Old Library.

What did Emmy Noether study?

Mathematics at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, taking her doctorate in 1907 under Paul Gordan on invariant theory. Her father Max Noether was a mathematician, so the subject was in the house, though she had originally intended to teach languages instead.

Where does this timeline of Emmy Noether's life come from?

From the public record. Character Arc drew every moment on this line from the sources listed at the foot of the page, and the kind and weight of each moment are our editorial reading. Emmy Noether isn't a Member of Character Arc and has no connection with it, and no feeling is attributed to her.

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Sources

Emmy Noether, English Wikipedia biography.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Emmy Noether.
Noether, Invariante Variationsprobleme, 1918.