Born: 1901 (Germany)
Died: 1984
Biography:
Grete Hermann (2 March 1901 – 15 April 1984) was a German mathematician and philosopher who made significant contributions in the fields of mathematics, physics, philosophy, and education. Her early philosophical work on the foundations of quantum mechanics, although initially overlooked, has since gained recognition and has been influential in the development of the field. Had her critique not remained unknown for decades, the historical development of quantum mechanics may have taken a different path.
Hermann embarked on her academic journey by studying mathematics at Göttingen under the tutelage of esteemed mathematicians Emmy Noether and Edmund Landau. In 1926, she obtained her PhD with her groundbreaking doctoral thesis titled Die Frage der endlich vielen Schritte in der Theorie der Polynomideale (The Question of Finitely Many Steps in Polynomial Ideal Theory). This paper, published in Mathematische Annalen, laid the foundation for computer algebra and introduced algorithms for solving problems in abstract algebra, such as ideal membership in polynomial rings. One of her major contributions was the development of an algorithm for primary decomposition that is still widely used today.
From 1925 to 1927, Hermann worked as an assistant for Leonard Nelson. Alongside Minna Specht, she posthumously published Nelson’s work titled System der philosophischen Ethik und Pädagogik while continuing her own research. As a philosopher, Hermann delved into the foundations of physics, particularly quantum mechanics. In 1934, she arrived in Leipzig with the intention of reconciling a neo-Kantian conception of causality with the new quantum mechanics. During her time there, she engaged in fruitful exchanges of ideas with renowned physicists Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker and Werner Heisenberg.
Hermann’s work during this period can be gleaned from her three publications and later descriptions of discussions by von Weizsäcker. Her notable publication, The foundations of quantum mechanics in the philosophy of nature, which she released from Denmark, stands as one of the earliest and most comprehensive philosophical treatments of quantum mechanics. In this work, she argued that the theory of quantum mechanics necessitates dropping the assumption of absolute knowledge about nature and dealing with the principle of causality independently. She contended that quantum mechanics does not contradict the law of causality but instead clarifies it by removing other principles not necessarily connected to it.
Hermann’s contributions to quantum mechanics were instrumental, even though her work went unheralded for many years. Her insightful critique of a no hidden-variables theorem by John von Neumann, if known earlier, could have potentially altered the trajectory of quantum mechanics. This unacknowledged contribution underscores the importance of recognizing and amplifying the voices of overlooked scholars.
Awards:
– In June 1936, Grete Hermann was awarded a prestigious Ackermann-Teubner Memorial Prize for her significant contributions to mathematics and philosophy.
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