Birthday of Emmy Noether (1882)

Described by Einstein as 'the most significant creative mathematical genius thus far produced.' Noether's theorem, published in 1915, proves that every symmetry in physics corresponds to a conservation law: the symmetry of time gives conservation of energy, the symmetry of space gives conservation of momentum. She also revolutionised abstract algebra, introducing the concept of an ideal and Noetherian rings. She was denied an academic position for years solely because she was a woman — Hilbert's response to the faculty: 'I do not see that the sex of the candidate is an argument against her admission.'