Emmy Noether's Theorem Discovered? A Beautiful Animated Short Explores the Legend

After her death in 1935, Einstein wrote that Emmy Noether (left) was "the most significant creative mathematical genius thus far produced since the higher education of women began."  This delightful animated short tells the story of a train journey she took, usually told as a moment when she suddenly realised the connection between symmetries and conservation laws while travelling, even though - alas - historians have found little contemporary evidence for the story. 

Like the tales of Newton and the apple or Archimedes and the bath, it may contain a some truth but has probably been embellished over time.  Or perhaps not - maybe it really happened as we see in the animation below. Let’s just say that the story is not as firmly established as her actual mathematical achievements. What is definitely true is that her theorem had enormous consequences for modern physics.

Emmy Noether discovered a hidden rule of the universe: whenever nature treats different situations as equivalent, something must be conserved. If the laws of physics don't change over time, energy cannot simply disappear. If they don't change from place to place, momentum is preserved. Her insight revealed that the universe's most important conservation laws are not arbitrary rules - they are consequences of symmetry.

The film was created by Laura Carpentier, Emma Bouchon, Soline Augris and Mila Mersch as a Pivaut School graduation film – and thank you very much for creating this.  The story is skillfully told - I particularly enjoyed the moments when we saw Emmy work out her theorem - such a wonderful visual metaphor for her discovery. I honestly never thought I would be writing about an animated Emmy Noether film on Kuriositas! Yet, in a nod to Noether herself - while some things appear to be conserved, my ability to be pleasantly surprised remains intact.