Hedy Lamarr: Invented Tech Behind Wi-Fi
Hedy Lamarr in April 1942
Eric Carpenter/John Kobal Foundation/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Hedy Lamarr (born Hedwick Kiesler) was called “The Most Beautiful Woman in Film,” but her beauty and acting talent was just the tip of the iceberg with Hedy. Hedy was also an inventor with a sharp mind. Along with avant-garde composer George Anthiel, Lamarr developed a new method of “frequency hopping,” a technique for disguising radio transmissions by making the signal jump between different channels in a prearranged pattern.
Their “Secret Communication System” was created to combat enemy countries during the war. It wasn’t used then but years later it was discovered as a ground breaking work. If you use a smartphone today, you can thank Lamarr—her communication system was a precursor to wireless technologies including Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.
I am inspired by her, because even though the world saw her outward beauty, she was not content just being beautiful and gracing the movie stage with her elegance and popularity. She invented a ground-breaking technology that changed our world. How courageous. It does not even seem that history took her seriously, as it was even used for the war effort in which she invented it. I probably would have given up and returned to the stage with my head held a little lower. So I call her brave, I call her courageous, I call her ahead of her time…how inspiring!