Emmy Noether

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the ideas and life of one of the greatest mathematicians of the 20th century, Emmy Noether. Noether’s 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’s 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.

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Guests

• Colva Roney Dougal No other episodes
  Professor of Pure Mathematics at the University of St Andrews
• David Berman 2 episodes
  Professor in Theoretical Physics at Queen Mary, University of London
• Elizabeth Mansfield No other episodes
  Professor of Mathematics at the University of Kent

Reading list

• Emmy Noether: A Tribute to Her Life and Work
  James W. Brewer and Martha K. Smith (eds.) (Marcel Dekker, 1981)
• Emmy Noether 1882-1935
  Auguste Dick (trans. H. I. Blocher) (Birkhauser, 1981) Google Books →
• A History of Abstract Algebra
  Israel Kleiner (Birkhauser, 2007) Google Books →
• The Noether Theorems: Invariance and Conservation Laws in the Twentieth Century
  Yvette Kosmann-Schwarzbach (trans. Bertram E. Schwarzbach) (Springer, 2010) Google Books →
• Symmetry and the Beautiful Universe
  Leon M. Lederman and Christopher T. Hill (Prometheus Books, 2008) Google Books →
• Emmy Noether's Wonderful Theorem
  D. E. Neuenschwander (JHU Press, 2010) Google Books →
• Fearful Symmetry: The Search for Beauty in Modern Physics
  A. Zee (Princeton University Press, 2016) Google Books →

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Programme ID: m00025bw

Episode page: bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00025bw

Auto-category: 510 (Mathematics)