Not just a pretty phase

I happened upon an article which featured 10 award-winning women of science. The tenth on the list was the famous and beautiful Hollywood star, Hedy Lamarr. Somewhat intrigued, I began researching the life of Hedy Lamarr. What emerged was a fascinating woman who was both beautiful and highly intelligent. For Hedy acted by day and invented by night.

Hedy Lamarr invented the concept of 'frequency hopping' - in effect a process whereby an electromagnetic transmitting apparatus and receiver jump sychronously together through different frequencies and so thwarting the ability of a third party to 'listen in'.  Initially this was developed by Hedy to assist in the prevention of Allied torpedo's from being interfered with by German jamming. Hedy Lamarr took out a patent on her invention. However, she was never taken seriously by the US Navy with the result that she signed over her invention to the navy, without recognition or acknowledgement.

It was only much later in her life that she received recognition for her invention. What few however realize is that Hedy Lamarr's invention was to provide the foundation for many of the technologies that we use today. The application of her invention led directly to GPS transmission, WiFi, Bluetooth and many aspects of cellular phone transmission.

Truly a remarkable woman - a true combination of right hemisphere innovation and emotionality and left hemisphere scientific expression. 

I've searched for the most formative clip, authentically portraying the life of Hedy Lamarr. Here's my choice - enjoy!

(Click on 'Watch this video on Youtube)