anoether-life

[anoether-life]

23.03.1882

It's Emmy's birthday!

Emmy was born to Dr. Max Noether and Ida Amalia Noether. She was the oldest of four children and the only girl next to her brothers Fritz, Albert and Robert.

[anoether-life]

20.03.1935

Warren Weaver writes in his diary about plans to fund Emmy's further stay in the U.S.:

It has become clear that N. cannot possibly assume ordinary academic duties in this country. She has no interest in undergraduate teaching, has not made very much progress with the language, and is entirely devoted to her research interests. On the other hand the Bryn Mawr authorities like and admire her, and would very much like to have her around for a further period. An interested friend of N’s has obtained personal pledges amounting to $1,700. The Princeton Institute for Advanced Study will devote $1,500 toward her support in return for a seminar which N. conducts on her weekly visit to Princeton. P. agrees that $3,000 a year is sufficient for N. Thus an additional $2,800 is necessary to provide for two further years. There is no hope whatsoever of absorption at Bryn Mawr, but there appears to be a fair chance for absorption at the Princeton Institute, this being an ideal disposition to the case. WW agrees to give consideration, making it clear that N’s case falls entirely outside of the standard formula, and that we are justified only on the grounds of her unusual eminence and upon the further ground that it is pointless to insist upon absorption in the case of a person who is incapable of being absorbed.

[anoether-life]

12.03.1918

Emmy again writes a letter to Felix Klein, reporting that her father’s anniversary party was nice:

Die Feier am 5. ist sehr schön gelaufen, und meinem Vater sehr gut bekommen.

[anoether-life]

This photo was taken on a trip to Nikolausberg near Göttingen after a talk by Heinrich Heesch. From left to right the people are:

Ernst Witt

Paul Bernays

Hella Weyl

Hermann Weyl

Joachim Weyl

Emil Artin

Emmy Noether

Ernst Knauf

an unknown person, most likely a niece or other relative of Emmy

\item Chiungtze Tsen

Erna Witt

It is not entirely sure when this picture was taken, but judging from how Emmy looks compared to other photos and that Witt and Tsen, two of Emmy's Ph.D. students who both graduated in 1934, are there, I would guess that it was taken some time between 1930 and 1933, most likely closer to 1933.

[anoether-life]

25.02.1925

Emmy's first doctoral student, Margarethe Hermann (also known as Grete Henry) graduates.

[anoether-life]

23.02.1918

Emmy writes a letter to Felix Klein and at the end reminds him of her father’s 50th doctoral anniversary:

Ich sollte Sie daran erinnern, daß mein Vater Dienstag in 8 Tagen, den 5. März, sein fünfzigjähriges Doktorjubiläum begeht.

[anoether-life]

15.02.1919

Göttingen's maths and science department finally hands in the application for Emmy to the ministry.

[anoether-life]

09.02.1922

The maths and science department requests for Emmy to get the job title of “nicht-beamteter außerordentlicher Professor” (non-civil servant associate professor). The formal prerequisite for this title is being a private lecturer for six years (Emmy only is for about two), but Göttingen argues that if Emmy was a man, she would have already been habilitated in 1915.

[anoether-life]

31.01.1919

Göttingen's maths and science department decides to hand in Emmy's application to the ministry.

[anoether-life]

18.01.1919

Emmy hands in her second application for habilitation to the maths and science department.

[anoether-life]

This picture was taken in September 1930 by Helmut Hasse aboard the steamship "Danzig". He and Emmy were on their way from Świnoujście to Königsberg to attend the annual meeting of the Deutsche Mathemativer-Vereinigung.

[anoether-life]

05.01.1919

Felix Klein asks the ministry how they would feel about another application for habilitation by Emmy.

[anoether-life]

27.12.1918

Albert Einstein writes a letter to Felix Klein, concerning Emmy:

Beim Empfang der neuen Arbeit von Frl. Noether empfinde ich es wieder als grosse Ungerechtigkeit, dass man ihr die venia legendi vorenthält. Ich wäre sehr dafür, dass wir beim Ministerium einen energetischen Schritt unternähmen. Halten Sie dies aber nicht für möglich, so werde ich mir allein Mühe geben.

[anoether-life]

This picture was taken in the 1920s in Göttingen.

[anoether-life]

13.12.1907

Emmy finishes her Ph.D. with Paul Gordan in Erlangen. The title of her thesis is "Über die Bildung des Formensystems der ternären biquadratischen Form".

13.12.1921

Emmy's father, Max Noether, dies. He did leave her a small fortune, but due to the inflation in Germany this was almost completely eroded. Because the remainder had to be used to care for her disabled brother Robert, Emmy was in a rough spot financially after her father's death.

[anoether-life]

01.12.1914

Emmy writes a letter to David Hilbert, talking about some mathematical theories. One the last page, she also briefly mentions World War I, which began less than half a year ago:

Ich hoffe daß, falls ihr Sohn im Feld sein sollte, Sie immer gute Nachrichten haben. Mein Bruder steht nördlich Reims und es geht ihm bis jetzt gut. Mit besten Empfehungen für Sie und Ihre Frau Gemahlin, Ihre sehr ergebene Emmy Noether

This last line is especially interesting, as a previous letter from May 1914 to Hilbert just ended in

Mit besten Empfehlungen Ihre sehr ergebene Emmy Noether

Both wishing Hilbert's son all the best and extending greetings to his wife in the December letter suggests a more personal connection than a solely professional one.

Scans of both letter can also be viewed online.

[anoether-life]

28.11.1933

Marion Park writes to Warren Weaver, inviting him to a talk by Emmy on December 15 with dinner afterwards. She also gives him a quick update on how Emmy is doing so far:

Dr. Noether is settled in what I hope are comfortable quarters, her English proves to be entirely usable and she is already much enjoyed by everyone who has come in contact with her. She has begun some work informally with the students and the department expects to make a more formal arrangement at the beginning of the next semester. The college hopes to offer next year some special scholarships in mathematics so that more than our usual number of students can avail themselves of Dr. Noether’s seminary and conferences.