StMU Research Scholars

Featuring Scholarly Research, Writing, and Media at St. Mary's University

Winner of the Spring 2019 StMU History Media Award for

Best Overall Research

In patriarchal societies, men limit the aspirations that women have, from how women are allowed to express themselves, to how women are allowed to pursue their livelihoods. One woman who faced these limits was the German-Jewish woman Emmy Noether. Noether’s passion was mathematics. She loved the world of mathematics, and she sought to make mathematics her career, at a time and place where women were largely excluded from such ambitions. German universities at the turn of the twentieth century were bastions of elite academic males. So how did this woman overcome those obstacles to her aspirations and succeed in becoming one of the most renown female mathematician of her age? Ironically, it all started with a man: her father.

Emmy Noether fell in love with mathematics because her father, Max Noether, was a mathematics professor at the University at Erlangen in Germany, where Emmy later started her own undergraduate studies.1 Max Noether’s research in algebraic-geometry studies ignited Emmy Noether’s passion for mathematics, and was the catalyst for her decision to go to college to study mathematics. And there, at her father’s university, she began her undergraduate studies in the year 1900.

Emmy Noether | Petite Image by unknown photographer | Courtesy of New York Times

In the early decades of the 1900’s, including the field of mathematics, it was rare for women to become students or faculty in Germany’s educational institutions.2 But Emmy gained acceptance to study mathematics, and after two years of her studies as an unclassified student, she excelled in the examination that allowed her to start her doctoral work as a matriculated student.3 Noether had also begun giving lectures and teaching with her father at the University of Erlangen, as an unofficial professor without pay and under the name of other official professors. For the next thirty years, her career consisted of pursuing research under her father’s wing and continuing on as a teaching assistant, being one of the few women in the department.

In 1930, Noether moved her research to Göttingen University, where she focused on commutative number fields, non commutative algebra, and linear transformations with Professor Helmut Hasse. As her research continued to expand, Emmy converted “algebraic number fields into theorems for ideals in arbitrary integral domains (and rings in general)” where the “ideals in rings” was introduced.4 Due to the new discoveries that were made, new ideals on elimination and algebraic varieties theories also took a new step for history.

One of her many well-known accomplishments in the mathematics field is the Brauer-Hasse-Noether Theorem, where she worked with fellow mathematicians Kurt Hensel and Richard Brauer in quantitative research. Their main idea of work in Cyclic Algebra was known as the “Proof of a Main Theorem in the theory of algebras,” and in November of 1931, their proof added its last addition of work.5 In Emmy’s contribution to the Theorem with Hasse and Brauer, she submitted what is known as “Emmy’s Method,” which is the reduction method that affected the collective theorem of cyclicity.

Image of Emmy Noether | 1930 | By Konrad Jacobs, Erlangen | Courtesy of Britannica

“Als Eingangsdatum erschien in der publizierten Arbeit der Tag, an dem das Manuskript bei Emmy Noether eingetroffen war.” This translates to “The date of publication in the published work was the day on which the manuscript was entered by Emmy Noether.”6 The quote is from the documented historical letter, “Anmerkungen zum Dokument vom 6.10.1927,” from Hasse and Noether in most of their timeline of research. Emmy Noether had a contribution of letters that were submitted for the Annals of Mathematics, yet she had been classified as an unofficial writer for the document itself.

Although her earlier contributions were not recognized or acknowledged, Noether’s work over the years all contributed to Emmy Noether being the first woman and the tenth honoree to ever receive the Ackermann-Teubner Award. This esteemed award, which she received in 1932, had been created as a way to recognize the analysis of mathematics and scientific work through research and published papers.7 Emmy Noether had received recognition as a history-making woman mathematician, and receipt of this award gave more acknowledgement to her algebraic theorem contributions to the world of mathematics. Events such as these allowed the awareness of her work to expand beyond the university, and her limitations as a woman mathematician began to decrease. Yet that was just about to change in 1932, as the Nazi Party in Germany  climbed ever higher in each of the four elections that were held that year. Her position as a woman academic in a Nazi-controlled Germany started receiving negative attention. And the Nazis took the lead in harassing not only women academics, but especially Jewish women academics.

In January 1933, Adolf Hitler became German Chancellor and the Nazi Party then gained power throughout Germany. Educational institutions throughout Germany were affected by the changes of this new Germany, including the discipline of mathematics, where “the treatment of mathematicians of ‘unfavorable ethnicity’ like Jews” was now receiving increased scrutiny.8 This affected mathematicians at the University at Göttingen, where Emmy Noether faced increasing harassment for not only being a woman mathematics professor, but especially for being a Jewish professor teaching “Aryan” students. Even before the Nazi seizure of power, students, faculty, and staff in universities throughout Germany had been subjecting Jewish professors to a wide range of disrespectful behaviors. But now that the Nazis were completely in power, the disrespect escalated to outright harassment of Jewish students and Jewish professors, no matter who they were.9

Postcard from Emmy Noether to E. Fischer | Postmarked April 10, 1915 | Courtesy of arstechnica.com

The harassment of Jewish academics was followed up with new laws affecting all schools throughout Germany. Jews were forbidden to work at or attend schools meant for Aryan students. As a consequence of these actions and laws, many Jewish professors left their universities, left Germany, and immigrated, many of them making their way to the United States. This was especially true for Jewish mathematicians. Emmy Noether was one of dozens of professors forced to leave her career and leave her research in April of 1933.10

As this happened, Jewish academics “managed to keep contacts with Jewish mathematicians who were forced to immigrate” through journals.8 These journals retained possession of records and information on the people that had been enforced due to the Anti-Semitism Movement. In time, the Law of Restoration in 1933 established the dismissal of all Jews from Academic contributions and activity. Slowly the participation of Jewish scholars in Germany society began to decrease. The Nazi regime restricted employment opportunities for Jews and significant limited the freedom and rights of Jewish people for the foreseeable future.

Gravestone of Emmy Noether in Erlangen Germany | Courtesy of thonyc.wordpress.com

Noether lived through these early months of the Nazi regime. She faced discrimination during and after her dismissal from her university work in April 1933. Months later, Noether had the option to go to Moscow with some of her fellow Jewish friends, but decided to immigrate to the United States, where she was offered a position to teach mathematics at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania.12 In her new environment, Emmy Noether not only lectured her own classes and continued her algebraic research, but she taught and worked with other women for the first time. For three years after her arrival in the United States, she made many friends and continued to write letters to her brother Fritz Noether and her former colleague Helmut Hasse, from Göttingen, until her sudden death in 1935 from illness.

At her funeral at Bryn Mawr, she was finally acknowledged for her scholarly work in the Mathematical Annal by Hermann Weyl, and she was remembered for her dedication to her theorem discoveries with various professors, including Hasse and Brauer. Even before her time at Bryn Mawr, Noether knew that her “methods are working, conceptual methods and therefore have anonymously penetrated everywhere,” even in the early stages of her successful research.6

During times of trial, acceptance, denial, and discrimination of different kinds, like millions of women throughout history, Emmy Noether lived decades of her life fighting and beating discrimination for her being a woman. Women like her had long been limited in how they could be involved in politics and family planning. And in Emmy Noether’s case, these women were limited in their education opportunities. Specifically, by living in Germany and being born as a woman, education and employment opportunities were very limited, yet Emmy Noether spent her life defeating the odds by becoming a renowned woman mathematician, who went to college, received her doctorate degree, and completed and published research in a male dominated culture. Noether survived the discrimination of the Nazi regime and made history as a woman mathematician. Noether’s mathematical theorems are foundational to what students are taught in today’s classrooms because of her dedication and determination to be in the field of mathematics. She has left a lasting contribution to the mathematical theories that we still use today.

  1. Jose Ignacio Cogolludo-Augustin and Miguel A. Marco Buzunariz. “The Max Noether Fundamental Theorem is Combinational,” University of Zaragoza (February 2010): 1, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/45900664_The_Max_Noether_Fundamental_Theorem_is_Combinatorial.
  2. Peter Roquette and Franz Lemmermeyer, Helmut Hasse Und Emmy Noether, Die Korrespondenz 1925 – 1935 (Universitätsverlag Göttingen, 2006), 34, http://www.oapen.org/search?identifier=610183.
  3. Alice Silverberg and Dirk Huylebrouck. “Emmy Noether in Erlangen,” Mathematical Intelligencer 23, no. 3 (Summer 2001): 23, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/226231187_Emmy_Neother_in_Erlangen.
  4. Emmy Noether, Ideal Theory in Rings (Idealtheorie in Ringbereichen), (University at Erlangen, October 1920), https://arxiv.org/abs/1401.2577.
  5. Peter Roquette et al., Helmut Hasse und Emmy Noether, Die Korrespondenz 1925 – 1935 (Universitätsverlag Göttingen, 2006), 34.  http://www.oapen.org/search?identifier=610183
  6. Peter Roquette and Franz Lemmermeyer, Helmut Hasse Und Emmy Noether, Die Korrespondenz 1925 – 1935 (Universitätsverlag Göttingen, 2006), http://www.oapen.org/search?identifier=610183.
  7. A Biographical Encyclopedia, 2002 s.v. “Noether, Emmy (1882–1935),” by Hugh A. Stewart.
  8. Stana Remus, “Mathematics in Nazi Germany,” (University of Glasgow, 2009): 1, 5, https://www.gla.ac.uk/media/media_338601_en.pdf.
  9. Stana Remus, “Mathematics in Nazi Germany,” (University of Glasgow, 2009): 1, https://www.gla.ac.uk/media/media_338601_en.pdf.
  10. Stana Remus, “Mathematics in Nazi Germany,” (University of Glasgow, 2009): 1, 5, https://www.gla.ac.uk/media/media_338601_en.pdf. Stana Remus states: “In total 145 mathematicians in academic positions were forced to leave Germany and this list includes Emmy Noether, Richard Courant and Hermann Weyl. Their main destination was the United States of America, where 82 of the 145 went, leading to America becoming the world centre of mathematics.”
  11. Stana Remus, “Mathematics in Nazi Germany,” (University of Glasgow, 2009): 1, 5, https://www.gla.ac.uk/media/media_338601_en.pdf.
  12. A Biographical Encyclopedia: Women in World History, 2002 s.v. “Noether, Emmy (1882–1935), by Hugh A. Stewart.
  13. Peter Roquette and Franz Lemmermeyer, Helmut Hasse Und Emmy Noether, Die Korrespondenz 1925 – 1935 (Universitätsverlag Göttingen, 2006), http://www.oapen.org/search?identifier=610183.

Recent Comments

66 comments

  • Makenzie Santana

    I too find joy in the field of mathematics, it is something I have always excelled in when it comes to education. Reading about Emmy Noether has given me such a great admiration of her. So many efforts from everyone was to bring her down as a intelligent Woman, add to the fact that she was Jewish, and she came out on top despite these efforts.

  • Maya Mani

    Great article! I simply love how Emmy was able to defy the social norms of her time. She was able to prove herself and surpass the expectations of society. She entered the male dominated field with such a passion and devotion for Mathematics, and was able to make an enormous impact! I love this story because it’s inspiring and is another example of not letting anything get in the way of what you want to accomplish. Well done!

  • Rebeca Escobar

    Congrats on your nomination! I get so excited just reading about women in history and what they accomplished and contributed in history. It’s very unfortunate how hard it was for Noether to make herself and her work relevant, and even how little credit/recognition she gets today. Regardless, I am sure her work is used today and she has young women like me who look up to her.

  • Joshua Garza

    Genuinely Great article. I feel enlightened on this subject of this lady who was a great mathematician who had her career at ta time where women typically weren’t the ones figuring things out in the world of male dominated math. Thanks to her father she got to be a trend setter for other female mathematicians to aspire to be the best the can in their field without the fear of being disliked by those who are against change.

  • Thomas Fraire

    Great article, I knew nothing about this topic coming into it. It is really tragic how little credit women get throughout history. She had to overcome a lot of adversity to even be heard because of the time period she lived in and it is truly tragic to see how little men thought of women in the past. By no means are perfect now but it is incredible to see the growth and strides society has made. Congrats on your nomination

  • Rosario Moreno

    It was cool to learn that Emmy Noether fell in love with mathematics through her father. It must have been so hard for her to be constantly fighting everyone. She was a woman, a mathematician, and a Jew at a time were none were respected. She was constantly criticized for simply being her and she put up an amazing fight. Great article!

  • Christopher Hohman

    Nice article. I have learned a little about Emmy Noether in my SMC Nature Course and she seems like she was an extraordinary woman. Her brilliance in the field of mathematics was never in question, however her gender unfortunately held her back from achieving notoriety in her field for quite some time, but she is remembered today as a model for women going into stem fields. Congratulations on your nomination.

  • Nadia Carrasco

    This was just a great article! Such an amazing women not only for her knowledge but also because these fields were almost for men only, but this lady did not let anything to stop her from achieving her goal. The author did a great job at telling this story and making it fun to read! I feel that the pictures add a nice touch and just bring everything together. Overall, I loved the entire article!

  • Nawaf Almarwaie

    such an amazing women not only for her knowledge but also because these fields (sciences) were almost for men only, but this lady did not let anything to stop her from achieving her goal. she would not be able to achieve that goal without support specially the support that she got from her father who believed in his daughter. and i think she must be a role model for many girls around the world specially in some countries where women still not allowed to do a lot of normal things, such as, working as engineer

  • Chelsea Alvarez

    Emmy Noether’s resilience to pursue something that was dominated by men is really admirable. I like how she took after her father in pursuing her love of mathematics. The author of the article did a very well job of laying out her career and how she is recognized in the world of mathematics. Noether was a very determined woman and I am glad that she went against society’s norms.

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