Tribute to Hedy Lamarr

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ZenManiac
Posts: 296
Joined: Wed Apr 07, 2004 2:14 am
Location: Near Madison, WI USA

Tribute to Hedy Lamarr

Post by ZenManiac »

So, my coffee shop has a "question of the day" that, if you answer correctly, gets you an additional punch on your cup or bean card. Today's question was "Which actress from the first half of the 20th century has a patent for a weapon guidance system?" The choices were Bette Davis, Ingred Bergman, Hedy Lamarr, and someone else. The answer, as you guessed from the topic title, was Hedy Lamarr.
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Why do you care, and why is this listed here?

Here's a description of her invention:

<font size="1"><font color="maroon"> THE WAR EFFORT

With Antheil's help, Lamarr designed a new kind of guidance system for torpedos. Eventhough her formal education consisted of private schools without technical training, she had absorbed quite a bit about weaponry during her marriage to the arms merchant, Mandl. Her role was the proverbial "arm piece." She was present at all of her husband's business meetings, but her brain was always in high gear.

FREQUENCY HOPPING

Hedy knew that "guided" torpedos were much more effective hitting a target, a ship at sea for example. The problem was that radio-controlled torpedos could easily be jammed by the enemy. Neither she nor Antheil were scientists, but one afternoon she realized "we're talking and changing frequencies" all the time. At that moment, the concept of frequency-hopping was born.

Antheil gave Lamarr most of the credit, but he supplied the player piano technique. Using a modified piano roll in both the torpedo and the transmitter, the changing frequencies would always be in synch. A constantly changing frequency cannot be jammed.

They offered their patented device to the U.S. military then at war with Germany and Japan. Their only goal was to stop the Nazis. Unfortunately or predictably, the military establishment did not take them or their novel invention seriously. Their device was never put to use during World War II.

Lamarr wanted to continue working at the National Inventors Council, but she was persuaded to raise money for war bonds back in Hollywood, selling kisses for $50,000 a smack.

WEB APPLICATIONS

By the 1950's, the patent on the device had expired when engineers at Sylvania "re-discovered" frequency-hopping. They called it "spread spectrum." These electronic devices were designed for use during the Cuban Missile crisis in the sixties. Hedy's film career was winding down. She had turned down the lead in Casablanca and made a few other bad career decisions. In one interview, she estimated that she went through about 30 million dollars. She never made a dime on her and Antheil's invention.

Today, spread spectrum devices using micro-chips, make pagers, cellular phones, and, yes, communication on the internet possible. Many units can operate at once using the same frequencies. Most important, spread spectrum is the key element in anti-jamming devices used in the government's 25 billion Milstar system. Milstar controls all the intercontinental missiles in U.S. weapons arsenal.

Fifty-five years and five marriages later, Lamarr was recently given the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) Award for their invention. Antheil was also honored; he died in the sixties. Hedy's son accepted the award for her since she no longer makes public appearances. From her Florida apartment where she lived on a pension from the Screen Actor's Guild, Lamarr responded, "It's about time."
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So... this actress, likely the hearthrob of your father, is the grandmother of the 2.4MHz DSS that we're all converting to, some 60 years later.

BTW, I didn't get the extra punch.

Here's the source of my information: http://www.hypatiamaze.org/h_lamarr/scigrrl.html
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