Emmy Noether

Physics German 1882 – 1935 640 quotes

Noether's theorem linking symmetry and conservation laws

Most quoted

"The development of abstract algebra, which is one of the most characteristic features of mathematics today, is the inevitable outcome of the historical evolution of our science."

— from Attributed from lectures

"My work is not about finding solutions to specific problems, but about developing general theories that can be applied to many problems."

"For all that, I should like to thank the founder of the theory, Herr Dedekind; his trend of thought has affected the above developments."

— from Paper: 'Abstrakter Aufbau der Idealtheorie in algebraischen Zahl- und Funktionenkörpern', 1927

All quotes by Emmy Noether (640)

The Jacobson radical tames the wild elements.

Ring paper 1920

I laugh at obstacles; they are just non-principal ideals.

Witty self-reflection

From Erlangen to Göttingen, my path was algebra.

Autobiographical sketch 1930

Conservation of energy is but one instance of variational invariance.

Theorem explanation 1918

Women mathematicians? We are the future.

Speech to female students 1925

The spectrum of a ring visualizes its primes.

Algebraic geometry hint 1921

My health fades, but my mind races with proofs.

Last letter 1935

Abstraction is liberation from the concrete.

Philosophical remark

In hypercomplex numbers, multiplication defies commutativity.

Dissertation excerpt 1907

Teichmüller's ideas extend my ring theory.

Professional comment 1930

Life's meaning? To discover and share truth.

Personal wisdom

The Noether normalization lemma simplifies varieties.

Algebraic geometry paper 1926

I am no lady; I am a mathematician.

Attributed comeback

Invariants preserve the essence under transformation.

Early paper 1918

From Germany to America, math unites us all.

Arrival speech 1933

Modules over PIDs are direct sums of cyclics.

Structure theorem 1920

Genius is persistence in the face of absurdity.

Reflective aphorism

The center of a ring is its commutative heart.

Ring theory 1921

My theorem on symmetries changed physics forever.

Interview reflection 1930

Forget the past; solve the next problem.

Advice to students 1935