Hedy Lamarr, an Austrian-American actress (November 9, 1913 – January 19, 2000) who a major contract star of MGM's "Golden Age." Besides being known for her extraordinarily haunting beauty, not many people knew that Hedy was also an inventor! Yup. With composer George Antheil, Hedy co-invented an early technique for spread spectrum communications and frequency hopping necessary to wireless communication from the pre-computer age to the present day. According to writer Richard Rhodes, "She [Hedy] set aside one room in her home, had a drafting table installed with the proper lighting, and the proper
tools - had a whole wall in the room of engineering reference books." That, Rhodes said, was where she "invented." Hedy's other inventions included a better Kleenex box and a new traffic signal but neither invention went anywhere. But her idea for a radio-controlled torpedo guided by a signal that couldn't be intercepted ("frequency hopping") was patented. Hedy's notion of "frequency hopping" became the basis for most modern WiFi technology. "Today, frequency hopping is used with the wireless phones that we have in our homes, GPS, most military communication systems - it's very widely used," said Rhodes. "Hedy had quietly signed her patent over to the Navy, and left it at that. She gave the technology away, and never made a dime off of it," stated Rhodes. Oh well... at least we know that she neither was greedy nor boastful (two traits that are not so beautiful). And although Hedy may not have received any scientific awards for her inventions,Source: Critical Beauty
