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Abstract:
Emmy Noether was one of the great mathematicians of the twentieth century
whose work was of fundamental importance to the development of modern
mathematics and physics. In a tribute to her Albert Einstein wrote "In the
realm of algebra, in which the most gifted mathematicians have been busy
for centuries, she discovered methods which have proved of enormous
importance... Pure mathematics is, in its way, the poetry of logical
ideas. In this effort toward logical beauty, spiritual formulas are
discovered necessary for deeper penetration into the laws of nature."
In this talk, I will describe her life and work. She was a Jewish woman, born in Germany, who became a refugee from the Nazis and died a premature death in 1935. From 1915 to 1933 she lectured and worked in the group of David Hilbert and Felix Klein in Goettingen, along with Hermann Weyl, Bertel van der Waerden, and other famous mathematicians of that time. Early in this period she discovered and proved the Noether's Theorem that is famous in physics. |