Emmy Noether - Biography

Biography

Emmy's father, Max Noether, was descended from a family of wholesale traders in Germany. He had been paralyzed by poliomyelitis at the age of fourteen. He regained mobility, but one leg remained affected. Largely self-taught, he was awarded a doctorate from the University of Heidelberg in 1868. After teaching there for seven years, he took a position in the Bavarian city of Erlangen, where he met and married Ida Amalia Kaufmann, the daughter of a prosperous merchant. Max Noether's mathematical contributions were to algebraic geometry mainly, following in the footsteps of Alfred Clebsch. His best known results are the Brill–Noether theorem and the residue, or AF+BG theorem; several other theorems are associated with him, including Max Noether's theorem.

Emmy Noether was born on 23 March 1882, the first of four children. Her first name was "Amalie", after her mother and paternal grandmother, but she began using her middle name at a young age. As a girl, she was well liked. She did not stand out academically although she was known for being clever and friendly. Emmy was near-sighted and talked with a minor lisp during childhood. A family friend recounted a story years later about young Emmy quickly solving a brain teaser at a children's party, showing logical acumen at that early age. Emmy was taught to cook and clean, as were most girls of the time, and she took piano lessons. She pursued none of these activities with passion, although she loved to dance.

She had three younger brothers. The eldest, Alfred, was born in 1883, was awarded a doctorate in chemistry from Erlangen in 1909, but died nine years later. Fritz Noether, born in 1884, is remembered for his academic accomplishments: after studying in Munich he made a reputation for himself in applied mathematics. The youngest, Gustav Robert, was born in 1889. Very little is known about his life; he suffered from chronic illness and died in 1928.