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Emmy Noether

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the ideas and achievements of one of the great 20th-century mathematicians.

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the ideas and life of one of the greatest mathematicians of the 20th century, Emmy Noether. Noether鈥檚 Theorem is regarded as one of the most important mathematical theorems, influencing the evolution of modern physics. Born in 1882 in Bavaria, Noether studied mathematics at a time when women were generally denied the chance to pursue academic careers and, to get round objections, she spent four years lecturing under a male colleague鈥檚 name. In the 1930s she faced further objections to her teaching, as she was Jewish, and she left for the USA when the Nazis came to power. Her innovative ideas were to become widely recognised and she is now considered to be one of the founders of modern algebra.

With

Colva Roney Dougal
Professor of Pure Mathematics at the University of St Andrews

David Berman
Professor in Theoretical Physics at Queen Mary, University of London

Elizabeth Mansfield
Professor of Mathematics at the University of Kent

Producer: Simon Tillotson

Available now

48 minutes

Last on

Thu 24 Jan 2019 21:30

LINKS AND FURTHER READING

READING LIST:

James W. Brewer and Martha K. Smith (eds.), Emmy Nother: A Tribute to Her Life and Work (Marcel Dekker, 1981)

Auguste Dick (trans. H. I. Blocher), Emmy Noether 1882-1935 (Birkhauser, 1981)

Israel Kleiner, A History of Abstract Algebra (Birkhauser, 2007)

Yvette Kosmann-Schwarzbach (trans. Bertram E. Schwarzbach), The Noether Theorems: Invariance and Conservation Laws in the Twentieth Century (Springer, 2010)

Leon M. Lederman and Christopher T. Hill, Symmetry and the Beautiful Universe (Prometheus Books, 2008)

D. E. Neuenschwander, Emmy Noether鈥檚 Wonderful Theorem (JHU Press, 2010)

A. Zee, Fearful Symmetry: The Search for Beauty in Modern Physics (Princeton University Press, 2016)

Broadcasts

  • Thu 24 Jan 2019 09:00
  • Thu 24 Jan 2019 21:30

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