EINSTEIN'S TUTOR

The revelatory story of an intellectual giant who made foundational contributions to science and mathematics and persevered in the face of discrimination against women in science, which will appeal to readers who loved Code Girls and Hidden Figures.

Emmy Noether was a German mathematician born in the late 19th century who discovered Noether's first and second theorems, which are fundamental in mathematical physics. Albert Einstein once described her as "the most significant creative mathematical genius thus far produced since the higher education of women began." Nearly a century later, in 2017, theoretical physicist Brian Greene tweeted that her theorem "is so vital to physics that she deserves to be as well known as Einstein. Yet, many have never even heard of her." Today, physicists are all taught some version of Noether's theorem, but few know just how close the world came to never hearing from her and never benefiting from the contribution she was capable of making solely because she was a woman. The Woman Who Tutored Einstein looks to correct this - bringing one of the most important and unknown figures of twentieth-century science and mathematics to a wider audience, introducing readers to the complexities of modern science without the use of formulas or math. Noether's mathematical genius enabled Einstein to bring his General Theory of Relativity, the basis of our current theory of gravity, to fruition. When he was unable to provide the mathematical proofs needed, she was able to provide the final piece of the puzzle. On a larger scale, what came to be known as "Noether's Theorem" - called by a Nobel laureate "the single most profound result in all of physics" - supplied the basis for the most accurate theory in the history of physics, the Standard Model, which forms our modern theory of matter. And Noether's Theorem's importance continues to unfold today: it is the tool physicists still use to guide them towards the holy grail of a unified theory and is the secret weapon wielded by researchers at the cutting edge of fields as diverse as robotics, quantum computing, economics, and biology. Noether's life story is equally important and revelatory in understanding the pernicious nature of sexual prejudice in the sciences, revealing the shocking discrimination against one of the true intellectual giants of the twentieth century, a woman effectively excluded from the institutions, perquisites, and fame given male counterparts in the world of science. Noether's personality and optimistic, generous spirit, as Lee Phillips reveals, enabled her unique genius to persevere and arrive at insights that still astonish those who encounter them a century later. After receiving his PhD in theoretical physics from Dartmouth College and completing his post-doctoral work, Lee Phillips worked for several decades as a research physicist at the Naval Research Laboratory. Inspired by the legendary Frank McCourt, when his student, he has embarked on his current career as freelance writer, publishing widely in popular scientific journals.