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A little thread on Emmy Noether and giving credit.
Felix Klein gave a lecture at the Mathematical Society of Göttingen #OTD in 1918. He included excerpts from letters in which he and Hilbert give priority to Emmy Noether’s results on conservation of energy in general relativity.
Felix Klein gave a lecture at the Mathematical Society of Göttingen #OTD in 1918. He included excerpts from letters in which he and Hilbert give priority to Emmy Noether’s results on conservation of energy in general relativity.
(Klein's lecture was titled “On Hilbert’s first note on the foundations of physics.")
Noether’s contributions were not always appreciated, because some of them happened outside of formal publications, in consultation with more senior researchers, or without the fanfare of a well-known scientist announcing a result at a major meeting. But her contemporaries knew.
(The proximate causes here were of course sexism and antisemitism.)
Klein was very clear in a letter to Hilbert:
"You know that Miss Noether advises me continually regarding my work, and that in fact it is only thanks to her that I have understood these questions.”
He explains how Noether obtained the result they are discussing a year before.
"You know that Miss Noether advises me continually regarding my work, and that in fact it is only thanks to her that I have understood these questions.”
He explains how Noether obtained the result they are discussing a year before.
He goes on to say that he read her manuscript on the subject, and notes
"She simply did not set it out as forcefully as I recently did at the Mathematical Society.”
Klein is saying, as plainly as possible, that Noether established a result that is being credited to him.
"She simply did not set it out as forcefully as I recently did at the Mathematical Society.”
Klein is saying, as plainly as possible, that Noether established a result that is being credited to him.
Hilbert responds “I fully agree,” adding that he had also received help from Noether the previous year.
He closes his letter with a conjecture about the origin of energy conservation in general relativity, adding "It would be good to produce the mathematical proof."
He closes his letter with a conjecture about the origin of energy conservation in general relativity, adding "It would be good to produce the mathematical proof."
(You can probably guess what comes next.)
In a reprint of his lectures, Klein notes that this proof was then provided by Emmy Noether in her famous 1918 paper "Invariante Variationsprobleme," which appeared six months later. https://twitter.com/mcnees/status/1286335585708380162
Sometimes I get replies and DMs suggesting that Noether’s role is overstated, that this is all revisionist history meant to appease folks concerned with equality and social justice.
No. She just did the work before her colleagues and didn’t get credit until much, much later.
No. She just did the work before her colleagues and didn’t get credit until much, much later.
But don’t take my word for it: It’s right there in the letters of Hilbert and Klein. They couldn't have been more plain about it.
References:
[1] “The Noether Theorems: Invariance and Conservation Laws in the Twentieth Century,” Yvette Kosmann-Schwarzbach (Springer, 2011)
[2] “Einstein, Hilbert, and the Theory of Gravitation,” Jagdish Mehra (D. Reidel Publishing Company, 1974)
[1] “The Noether Theorems: Invariance and Conservation Laws in the Twentieth Century,” Yvette Kosmann-Schwarzbach (Springer, 2011)
[2] “Einstein, Hilbert, and the Theory of Gravitation,” Jagdish Mehra (D. Reidel Publishing Company, 1974)
