The Many Lives of Hedy Lamarr

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A Deeper Look Into Hedy Lamarr’s Inventions

from: How Hedy Lamarr and Her Inventions Changed the World (c) Hannah L. Miller. Updated Aug 30, 2022 https://leaders.com/articles/leaders-stories/hedy-lamarr-inventions/Retrieved 12 January 2023
“Improving things comes naturally to me,” Hedy Lamarr said of herself. Inventing was her method of switching from entertainer to entertained. Her mind was full of infinite possibilities. There was always something to learn, redesign, make excellent, or advance forward. Redesigning Faster Airplanes During WWII On the eve of the U.S.’s involvement in WWII, one of Lamarr’s boyfriends, aviation tycoon Howard Hughes, took note of her brilliance. His new partner’s creativity and intelligence astounded him, causing the businessman to introduce her to his aerodynamics team so she could help advance the planes. Whether working from her movie set trailer or at-home lab, Lamarr fought boredom by engineering the design of faster aircraft. After analyzing the shapes of the world’s quickest fish and birds, she created a more economical, speedier wing design for Hughes. Hedy Lamarr and WiFi You might be wondering who invented WiFi. While Lamarr wasn’t technically the WiFi inventor, she conceptualized the type of spread spectrum technology that makes it possible. In 1940, she met self-proclaimed “bad boy” composer George Antheil at a dinner party. The two bonded in conversation after discussing how disturbed Lamarr was over the tragic sinking of the SS City of Benares. Out of the 90 evacuees who were children heading to safety from Britain to Canada, 77 perished due to an enemy torpedo striking the ship.  Lamarr wouldn’t let this chance meeting go to waste—she wanted to help out and serve in the war efforts. She provided Antheil with her phone number by writing it on his windshield in red lipstick.  Shortly after that, the two worked together on a wireless communication system that prevented enemy forces from “jamming” or blocking the signal that guided the Allies’ torpedoes. She called the invention “frequency hopping” since the system caused radio waves from the transmitter and receiver to change to a new one simultaneously. Hopping from various frequencies made it impossible to find and redirect incoming signals so a torpedo would miss its target.  Sadly, the U.S. Navy dismissed Lamarr’s contribution, telling her she’d be more useful selling war bonds. Wanting to help in any way she could, she agreed, raising 25 million dollars.  Fortunately, her invention didn’t go to waste. It was one of the key communication systems used during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Today, we see ripples of frequency hopping in WiFi, Bluetooth, and GPS. Milstar, a network of military communication satellites, also uses the same technology.  Other Notable Inventions As Lamarr once said, “All creative people want to do the unexpected.” Her inventions speak to this statement. During her lifetime, she came up with ideas for a chair that revolved in and out of the shower, a better traffic light, a tablet that made drinks carbonated, and a fluorescent dog collar.  The Long Road to a Proper Legacy Even though she lived in an age where women had to choose to be beautiful or intelligent, she bravely chose both. Although she didn’t receive the recognition she deserved for her innovative mind while she was alive, her legacy has shifted in recent years. In 1997, she and her co-inventor of frequency hopping, Antheil, won the Pioneer Award from the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). In addition to this, the film Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story (2017) drew attention to her significant contributions to modern technology. Since then, articles from Forbes, the Smithsonian, Biography, PBS, and The New York Times have all helped reshape what people choose to remember and honor about Lamarr. Defining the “Think Big Anyway” Mentality There’s a poem by Kent M. Keith that Lamarr loved reading to her children before bedtime called “The Paradoxical Commandments.” After learning about her life, it’s easy to see why Lamarr chose these words to instill into her kids.  The end of the poem reads: “The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds./ Think big anyway./ People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs./ Fight for a few underdogs anyway./ What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight./ Build anyway./ People really need help but may attack you if you do help them./ Help people anyway./ Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth./ Give the world the best you have anyway.” These words were her life philosophy. Even when the world was cruel to her, Lamarr focused on doing good. Her resilience and demand for change and innovation still inspire and motivate people across the globe, even years after her passing.
Lodi (grandaughter), Anthony Loder (son), Wendy (granddaughter), Denise (daughter)

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