“Before everything was completely clear, we had a few arguments.” - Emmy Noether, David Hilbert and Felix Klein

Abstract

This article reconstructs the historic events and records leading up to Emmy Noether’s famous paper on “Invariant Variational Problems” (1918). Based on the available archival evidence, especially the extensive manuscript notes by Felix Klein, it examines the intensive collaboration between Emmy Noether, David Hilbert and Felix Klein in Göttingen in the period between 1915 and 1918. This reflection shows how Noether’s paper emerged from a discussion context in a historical setting, shaped by both supportive and obstructive circumstances that influenced the development of her approach.