Emmy Noether

Emmy Noether proved in 1915, published in 1918, the theorem linking symmetries in physics to conservation laws, now fundamental to modern physics, and went on to transform abstract algebra. For years she lectured at Göttingen without pay or a formal post because she was a woman, and in 1933 she was dismissed by the Nazis as a Jew. Physicists widely recognised the theorem's importance only decades later.