Hedy Lamarr

Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler, better known as Hedy Lamarr, was born to Jewish parents in Austria on November 9th, 1914, one hundred and one years ago today. At the height of her movie career, she was known as the “most beautiful woman in the world,” a description that I would not argue. In addition to her beauty and her skill as an actress, Hedy Lamarr was also a scientist, inventor, and mathematician.

During World War II, Hedy Lamar and George Antheil developed a radio-controlled guidance system for torpedos. Because they realized that a radio signal could be jammed, they developed a “frequency-hopping” radio system that was almost impossible to jam. They were jointly awarded a patent on the system in 1942 and they turned it over to the US Navy, which then essentially did nothing with the system for the rest of the war. It was finally adopted in 1962 when it was used by U.S. military ships during a blockade of Cuba, one year after the patent had expired.

Hedy Lamarr’s invention, however, was applied to far more than just torpedos. The Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum described in her patent is integral technology in cell phones, GPS, Bluetooth devices, and wi-fi. Lamarr received no credit for her pioneering invention until 1997, when the Electronic Frontier Foundation honored her with a belated award for her contribution to communications.  Hedy Lamar died in 2000, at the age of 86.