Way
back in the 1940’s actress and inventor Hedy Lamarr was following her own
initiative and working on radio guidance for torpedoes in World War 11. She was
a woman without any formal training in science and engineering. What did a
beautiful Austrian actress in Hollywood know about such things?
She
said inventions came to her easily. Her breakthroughs in thinking eventually
led to the development of Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS technology which is
estimated to be worth $30 billion today.
Hello
Friends,
An
incredible woman from history, Hedy Lamarr passed away in 2000. She’s back in
the news again after talk that Wonder Woman actresss, Gal Gadot is considering
a role in a television series about the life and career of Lamarr.
Hedy
Lamarr started acting at 17. She was once called the most beautiful woman in
films. In 1938, she left Europe and starred in her first Hollywood movie during
the Golden Age of cinema.
 |
| Hedy Lamarr 1939, Argentinean Magazine source: Wiki Commons |
In
the years that followed and led to World War 11 she learnt that
radio-controlled torpedoes could easily be jammed and set off course by the
enemy. At the time, England was surrounded by German U-boats. Her first husband was an arms
maker and she’d previously had dinner conversations about German military technology.
With
help from a composer and pianist, Hedy designed a mechanism that instead of
using a single radio frequency, it could you use multi-frequencies to send a
signal and not be interfered with. The concept was called frequency-hopping
which she patented in 1942. The invention was rejected by the U.S. Navy because
it was a technology that came from outside of military institutions. However, in 1962,
the Navy used and improved the concept as a reaction to the Cuban missile
crisis.
Hedy
had no formal training in science and engineering. She was a self-taught
inventor. Her Hollywood home had a studio where she could work on her
innovative ideas. Her achievements were largely kept a secret, and she’d rarely
taken credit for her own work.
“People have the idea I’m
sort of a stupid thing,” Hedy Lamarr said in a tape recording.
Today,
Hedy Lamarr’s multi-frequency signal idea is used in Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS
technology.
Recently,
a documentary was made about Hedy Lamarr. Watch the trailer to “Bombshell”, The
Brilliant Mind of Hollywood Legend Hedy Lamarr.
More news about trailblazing women…
British
physicist Dr. Jess Wade
has written 270 Wikipedia pages for trailblazing female scientists in an effort
to get every woman “who has achieved something impressive in science to get the
prominence and recognition they deserve.”
Read about it here, huffingtonpost.com.au
Have a happy weekend.
♥ Ashlyn
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