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Pioneering women in the IT world, Grete Hermann

Sonja Sauvola Integration Specialist, Solita

Published 31 Jan 2025

Reading time 2 min

Have you seen the movie Hidden Figures? Did you know that many remarkable women in Europe have also shaped the history of computing? This blog series presents four women from the early 1900s to the present day. They are from Germany, Sweden, Norway, and Finland. As the world of IT needs more women, it must be pointed out that this isn’t a field in which women are newcomers. In the words of Janet Abbate, this is a field where they have a history and belong. 

Grete Hermann – Multitalented creator of modern computer algebra

Grete Hermann (2.3.1901 – 15.4.1984) worked in physics, mathematics, philosophy, and education. Her work in mathematics and physics was ahead of its time, and she carried out pioneering work in interpreting quantum theory.

Grete Hermann

Hermann was born in Bremen, Germany in 1901. She acquired teaching qualifications for the secondary school in 1921. From 1921 to 1925 she studied mathematics and philosophy, earning her doctorate with a thesis that laid the foundations for complex algorithms and modern statistical data modeling. She wrote the first algorithms for computer algebra in the 1920s, long before the first electronic computer.

In 1935 Hermann discovered a logical error in John von Neumann’s purported proof of the impossibility of hidden variables in quantum mechanics. Hermann established that von Neumann’s proof was invalid but her refutation was largely ignored for 30 years. Grete Hermann’s findings were rediscovered in 1966. It has been suggested that, had her critique not remained nearly unknown for decades, the historical development of quantum mechanics might have been very different.

Grete Hermann was active in the resistance against the nazis during World War II. An academic career wasn’t possible under the conditions of the nazi regime in Germany, but she held classes for members of the resistance; topics including philosophy, politics, and ethical values. In 1936, she fled first to Denmark and then to England. In 1946 when the war had ended, she returned to Germany.

Grete Hermann was nominated as a Professor of Philosophy and Physics at the Pädagogische Hochschule, which later became the University of Bremen. She played a prominent role in the Education and Science Workers’ Union and presided over the Philosophical-Political Academy from 1961 to 1978. Hermann died in 1984 in her hometown of Bremen. 

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