WORLD OF SCIENCE
Revolutionary work
DR. T. V. PADMA
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Noether did groundbreaking research in many fields of mathematics.
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The Nazis prevented Emmy Noether (and many other Jewish intellectuals and academicians) from lecturing. Finally, the Nazi's treatment forced Emmy to flee Germany. She turned down an offer from Oxford University to come to Bryn Mawr college in 1933. Unfortunately, Emmy died just two years after immigrating to the U.S., at the age of 53.
Radical change
By then, however, Emmy had brought about a radical change in the way that mathematicians thought about algebra. Mathematicians today still speak about the "Noether school" of mathematical thought. She revolutionised her field, and her work lead to the discovery of new algebraic patterns. In 1918, she proved two theorems that were basic for both general relativity and elementary particle physics. One of these theorems is known as "Noether's Theorem".
During the 1920's Noether did groundbreaking research in abstract algebra, group theory, ring theory, group representations, and number theory. Her approach was abstract, but it gave rise to applications in physics and crystallography. Her work also led to a body of principles that unified different mathematical fields: algebra, geometry, linear algebra, topology, and logic. In 1932, she was awarded the prestigious Ackermann-Teubner Memorial Prize in mathematics. In the words of Lee Smolin:
"The connection between symmetries and conservation laws is one of the great discoveries of 20th century physics. But I think very few non-experts will have heard either of it or its maker — Emily Noether, a great German mathematician. But it is as essential to 20th century physics as famous ideas like the impossibility of exceeding the speed of light... And without it one does not really understand why the world is such that riding a bicycle is safe."
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