Sex symbol and communications specialist
She caused an international scandal by appearing nude in a Czechoslovak movie of 1933 before becoming a glamorous Hollywood star.
She was Jewish but married an arms manufacturer who socialised with Hitler and Mussolini.
She invented a frequency-hopping spread-spectrum technique that was so far ahead of its time that it was first submitted in 1941 but not used until the Cuba missile crisis of 1962.
Who was she? Her name was Hedwig Eva Maria Kieseler but you might know her as Hedy Lamarr. More information here.
And why do I mention her now on this blog? Because she appears as a character in a novel I’m reading at the moment: “The Glass Room” by Simon Mawer.
May 28th, 2010 at 3:40 pm
I’ve never read The Glass Room, is it good so far?
I thought since you’re on a bit of a Hedy kick at the moment you might enjoy one of the films currently on the Information Pioneers website – http://pioneers.bcs.org/2010/5/12/hedy-lamarr
Please do let me know what you think :o)
May 28th, 2010 at 3:57 pm
Enjoyed the video which explained the technology simply and effectively.
June 11th, 2010 at 11:29 am
Really glad that you enjoyed the film 🙂