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The Forgotten Legacy of Amalie Noether

Amalie Noether was a groundbreaking 20th century mathematician who Albert Einstein called "one the most 'significant” and “creative' female mathematicians of all time." Although Noether made tremendous contributions to theoretical physics and abstract algebra, even among the scientific community Noether is virtually unknown today. Unfortunately, this type of obscurity is a fate common to many women scientists and mathematicians of the past and perhaps one all the more bitter due to the struggles they underwent to achieve respect and recognition in their own time.

Amalie Noether

At A Mighty Girl, we believe the celebration of women's history should be a year-round endeavor and not simply relegated to its official month of March.  As such, we want to take a moment to remember the life and work of Amalie Noether, a groundbreaking 20th century mathematician. The New York Times ran a wonderful feature about Noether this past week, describing how Albert Einstein called her "one the most 'significant” and “creative' female mathematicians of all time." Although Noether made tremendous contributions to theoretical physics and abstract algebra, the NY Times recounts how, even among the scientific community, Noether is virtually unknown today. Unfortunately, this type of obscurity is a fate common to many women scientists and mathematicians of the past and perhaps one all the more bitter due to the struggles they underwent to achieve respect and recognition in their own time.

We've found locating high-quality biographies of women scientists and mathematician to be quite challenging. With the exception of a few famous cases like Jane Goodall, who is fairly well represented in children's literature, there appear to be rather slim pickings for these types of biographies. In Amalie Noether's case, we were able to track down one biography about her for young readers but this is not the case for many female historical figures.

Even so, we are optimistic that there are no doubt many great biographies available that we haven't yet encountered. If you have any to recommend, we'd love to hear from you. Post your recommendation in the comments below or using the "Feedback & Support" button on the right side-bar. Thanks for helping a new generation appreciate the contributions of these great women!

Image from Wikipedia

 

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