Known for foundational work in both quantum mechanics and computer algebra, Hermann was a German mathematician, philosopher, and theoretical physicist whose critique of Von Neumann's no hidden variables proof proved decades ahead of its time. Though her criticism was long ignored, it was rediscovered in 1974 by Max Jammer, who brought it to wider attention. Her broader research focused on reconciling the neo-Kantian conception of causality with quantum mechanics.
Hermann was the first graduate student of Emmy Noether and shared in the award of the Richard Avenarius prize in 1936. She also published the posthumous works of others, including that of Leonard Nelson.
Politically active against Nazism, she published anti-Nazi articles under various pseudonyms between 1927 and 1940, in publications edited by Willi Eichler. Her involvement with the Internationaler Sozialistischer Kampfbund forced her to flee Nazi Germany, and during her exile she led the Union of German Socialist Organisations in Great Britain.
In later life, she became the first head of the Bremen Pedagogical University and co-founded the philosophical journal Ratio, serving on its editorial board until her death. After the death of Minna Specht, she took over leadership of the Philosophisch-Politische Akademie and turned her focus toward critical philosophy and the refinement of Nelsonian ethics.
