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What do Hedy Lamarr, avant-garde composer George Antheil, and your cell phone have in common? The answer is spread-spectrum radio: a revolutionary invention based on the rapid switching of communications signals among a spread of different frequencies. Without this technology, we would not have the
… More »What do Hedy Lamarr, avant-garde composer George Antheil, and your cell phone have in common? The answer is spread-spectrum radio: a revolutionary invention based on the rapid switching of communications signals among a spread of different frequencies. Without this technology, we would not have the digital comforts that we take for granted today. Only a writer of Richard Rhodes's caliber could do justice to this remarkable story. Unhappily married to a Nazi arms dealer, Lamarr fled to America at the start of World War II; she brought with her not only her theatrical talent but also a gift for technical innovation. An introduction to Antheil at a Hollywood dinner table culminated in a U.S. patent for a jam- proof radio guidance system for torpedoes--the unlikely duo's gift to the U.S. war effort. What other book brings together 1920s Paris, player pianos, Nazi weaponry, and digital wireless into one satisfying whole? In its juxtaposition of Hollywood glamour with the reality of a brutal war, Hedy's Folly is a riveting book about unlikely amateur inventors collaborating to change the world.
« Lessthe life and breakthrough inventions of Hedy Lamarr, the most beautiful woman in the world
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Add a Comment"Among the most intriguing bits of Hollywood lore is the real-life story of Hedwig Kiesler, the Vienna-born Jewish actress who fled Nazi Germany for America, where she reinvented herself as Hedy Lamarr. However, her movie star persona wasn't her only invention: to support the U.S. war effort, this savvy siren of the silver screen teamed up with avant-garde composer George Antheil to develop a technology known as frequency-hopping spread spectrum - an invention that would ultimately pave the way for bar code readers, cell phones, Wi-Fi, and GPS." March 2013 Biography and Memoir newsletter http://www.nextreads.com/Display2.aspx?SID=5acc8fc1-4e91-4ebe-906d-f8fc5e82a8e0&N=613005
This was a fascinating book. It talked about Hedy Lamarr, the famous actress, but only to set up the story of her inventions. She and a music composer friend came up with spread spectrum technology in an attempt to help out the US navy with torpedoes, which the navy rejected. The got a patent on the technology, however, and it proved to be the basis for wireless phones, Bluetooth networks, GPS devices, and military communications. I learned a lot and enjoyed finding out what drove her to invent while still being an actress. The book is a little slow at first, but picks up as it goes along.
Such a beautiful woman, it is somehow stunning that she is also very smart, intelligent and scientific. Take a close look at the cover art. It looks as if she is retaining water in her ankles...that shoe strap looks buried behind a roll of fat, lol. Well, I had to find something wrong with her, didn't I? Seriously, for those of us interested in patents on hopping frequencies as they relate to radio controlled torpedoes will find this book fascinating.