Monday, March 12, 2007

Emmy Noether


This post has a lot less boob than the previous post. I suppose Hilary Duff is doing her part to make young girls dumber and more superficial. I wish Emmy Noether (1882-1935) were around to make young girls smarter and more mathematical. I've been reading various mathematical biographies of Noether, since in a lot of ways, she's the intellectual successor of Dedekind, who is the other Richard in my life, being the star figure of my PhD dissertation.

Since this is at least nominally a womens' day themed post, and not only an excuse for me to talk publically about how great I think Noether is, I might mention that the biographies I chose to read were the ones written by mathematicians, or at least, where the mathematical work was discussed by the mathematicians. Van der Waerden's obituary is particularly touching, and does a great job of highlighting interesting aspects of her research. He was one of her students at Gottingen. The main reason I picked mathematicians' writing about her to read is that they at least talk about the importance and algebraic character of her actual work, instead of her physical appearance.

It seems to be the standard for mathematical histories to make a point of how distinctly unfeminine Noether was. Even Hermann Weyl, a mathematician himself, says things like this:
She was heavy of build and loud of voice, and it was often not easy for one to get the floor in competition with her. [...] No one could contend that the Graces had stood by her cradle; but if we in Gottingen often chaffingly referred to her as "der Noether" (with the masculine article), it was done with a respectful recognition of her power as a creative thinker who seemed to have broken through the barrier of sex.
But to what extent did Noether really break through that barrier? In recognition by her colleagues, true. But in obtaining a university position? Not really. She had only a Privatdozent's position in Gottingen, and that was because Hilbert and Klein argued so vehemently for it. The story goes that Hilbert's retort when told that it was ridiculous that a woman be accorded that position, since it meant membership in the University Senate was, "Gentlemen, the Senate is not a bathhouse, so I do not see why a woman cannot enter it!" We love you, Hilbert.

But still, there always seems to be as much attention paid, if not more, to what her qualifications are as a woman, than her qualifications as one of the most important figures in algebra in the 20th century. That is - I don't understand why Noether is a great woman mathematician, and not just a great mathematician. It's not as though she wouldn't be great by those standards as well. Why the extra adjective, people? When asked if Noether was a great woman mathematician, Landau apparently replied, "I can testify that she is a great mathematician, but that she is a woman, I cannot swear." You go over there and stand with Larry Summers, Landau. I'll be over here reading about abstract algebra and not fixing my makeup.

1 comment:

mashdown said...

kick ass review. Way to stick it to the man, Noether. Er, men.