Mathematics and theatrics combine this April in Diving into Math with Emmy Noether, a play about the pioneering and influential mathematician who is often referred to as the “mother of modern algebra.”

Sponsored by the College of Letters and Science at UC Davis and the Department of Mathematics, the play will be performed at the Wyatt Pavillion Theater on April 9 at 6 p.m. as part of portraittheater Vienna’s spring 2025 USA tour. The play was written by Sandra Schueddekopf and Anita Zieher in cooperation with historians Mechthild Koreuber and David E. Rowe. Schueddekopf directs the play and Zieher stars in it as Noether.   

Who was Emmy Noether?

“Emmy Noether was born in Germany at a time when women weren’t very prominent yet in mathematics and science,” said Anne Schilling, a professor in the Department of Mathematics at the College of Letters and Science at UC Davis. “She decided to study mathematics, but she wasn’t immediately accepted as somebody who could do and teach mathematics at a German university.”  

In 1933, when Hitler came to power, Noether, who was Jewish, was one of the first instructors dismissed by the Nazi government. She sought refuge in the U.S., where she taught at both Bryn Mawr College and Princeton University. In 1935, she died following a medical operation to treat cancer. She was 53 years old. Famed theoretical physicist Albert Einstein wrote that “Noether was the most significant creative mathematical genius thus far produced since the higher education of women began.”

“She was a very prominent mathematician, but her work actually had a lot of influence on physics, including on conservation laws like the conservation of energy,” Schilling said. Noether’s contributions to this area became known as Noether’s theorem. 

When Schilling was a student, she was entranced by the exquisite nature of Noether’s mathematics and the deep reach of its ability to describe physical reality. Noether’s work inspired Schilling.

Years later,  the Association for Women in Mathematics named Schilling the 2024 Emmy Noether Lecturer, an honor that celebrates women who have made impactful contributions to the mathematical sciences.

“I have always admired and was inspired by Emmy Noether’s foundational work in mathematics and physics," Schilling said. "Giving the 2024 Noether lecture was a great honor, especially since my work is also often influenced by ideas from both mathematics and physics.”

Schilling first heard about Diving into Math with Emmy Noether from a colleague at Smith College in New England, which hosted a performance in 2023. Wanting to bring the play to UC Davis, Schilling got to work and sought input from the Department of Theatre and Dance.

Schilling hopes the play will show audiences the humanity at the heart of math — something often missed in textbooks.

“Emmy Noether faced struggles during her life and I think it’s very important for people to see that math is very much a process,” Schilling said. “Using a theater play, I think, is a very valuable way to do that.”

“I hope this brings awareness to women in mathematics but also showcases what mathematics can do for society,” she added. “Noether’s theorems are used everywhere. They’re very fundamental and they have a big impact on everything.”