All Else Confusion

Hedy Lamarr, the Viennese beauty, born Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler, was more than just a pretty face, though she once famously quipped, "Any girl can be glamorous. All you have to do is stand still and look stupid." Through her first husband, Hedy had been personally aquainted with Hitler, whom she hated and feared. After she escaped from her husband, she wrangled a contract from Louis B. Mayer and began to make her way in Hollywood. There, she met George Antheil, a composer. Together with Antheil, Lamarr invented a way of radio controlling torpedos using "frequency hopping", called spread spectrum. The invention used slotted paper rolls similar to player-piano rolls to synchronize the frequency changes in transmitter and receiver and it was cumbersome. When the transitor was invented, the technology could be applied more easily. It is still in use today in secure military communications and cell phones.

Interesting fact: Hedy Lamarr owned the house used in the filming of The Sound of Music at the time it was filmed.

Labels: movies