House of Eratosthenes

I was browsing through the list looking at some accomplishments filed under “Evidence of Brains” that were probably exactly that, but could just as easily have been evidence of specialized aptitude coupled with mediocre intellect. Graduated from Harvard, played piano at a young age, majored in philosophy, etc. Actually, the Valedictorian stuff and the “knows a lot of languages” thing, those both impress me a great deal more. But on a whim, I decided to look at the honorable mentions where someone thought Mira Sorvino belonged. Yeah, Sharon Stone beat Mira Sorvino in this thing. Whatever, guys…but I did kind of a double-take when I ran across this:

[Hedy] Lamarr coinvented the first form of spread spectrum, which is the basis for pretty much all modern wireless communication.

Rrrr?

No, it’s true. I “proved” it by proving the way you prove anything on the innernets, which is to define the extent to which a conspiracy would have to be concocted in order to make a false thing look true. And in this case, I found here & there a lot of mentions of it, the most detailed one being probably here.

Beautiful and smart as a whip, Hedy befriended a maverick musician, George Antheil. He is known for his experimental symphonies. One required 16 player pianos. They met at a Hollywood party where they discussed the war in Europe and the threat to America from Germany and Hitler. The following afternoon, Antheil went to Lamarr’s home to discuss what they could do to stop Hitler.

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.

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.

End of story? Not quite. Better than even odds you are using Ms. Lamarr’s invention as you read this very sentence.

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.”

Now…what’s Britney done for you lately?

[…] unknown wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptThey met at a Hollywood party where they discussed the war in Europe and the threat to America from Germany and Hitler. The following afternoon, Antheil went to Lamarr’s home to discuss what they could do to stop Hitler. … […]
- Hollywood » Smart Hot Women | 10/02/2007 @ 10:23
Reminds me of Jimmy Buffett’s “Smart Woman (in a Real Short Skirt)”. 😉

I remember seeing this thing about Heddy Lamar somewhere before, perhaps on one of those “Biography” shows on A&E.

But what I particularly liked about your post is you (dang it, AGAIN) came up with a concise, meaningful way to describe pretty much the way I go about web-research.

No, it’s true. I “proved” it by proving the way you prove anything on the innernets, which is to define the extent to which a conspiracy would have to be concocted in order to make a false thing look true.

I have an aversion to conspiracy theories in general. This is probably why I never decended far into the hippie world even though I am a Grateful Dead fan and used to wear a lot of tie dye. Yes, people conspire. But conspiracies get exponentially harder to pull off as you add more people to those who are supposed to be involved in covering it up.

They get implausible pretty fast.
- philmon | 10/02/2007 @ 12:05

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Smart Hot WomenTuesday, October 2nd, 2007

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Tuesday, October 2nd, 2007