While not a trained engineer or mathematician, Hedy Lamarr was an ingenious problem-solver. Most of her inventions were practical solutions to everyday problems, like a tissue box attachment for depositing used tissues or a glow-in-the-dark dog collar.
It was during World War II, that she developed “frequency hopping,” an invention that’s now recognized as a fundamental technology for secure communications. She didn’t receive credit for the innovation until very late in life.
Most of Hedy’s work was done at home at her engineering table where she’d sketch designs for creative solutions to practical problems. In addition to the tissue box attachment and the light-up dog collar, Hedy devised a special shower seat for the elderly that swiveled safely out of a bathtub.
It's HEDLY, HEDLY Lamar. Mel Brooks said Hedy Lamar was upset with his use of Hedly in Blazing Saddles and sued over it.
ReplyDeleteShe "HELPED" develop frequency hopping. She didn't just come up with it herself. Get it right, FFS!
ReplyDeleteActually she did. The American Physical Society credits her with the core idea that could be reduced to practice, and she (along with George Antheil, a composer who enlarged the idea) got the patent. As is typical, related ideas and similar concepts had been proposed earlier but remained interesting hypotheticals. Typically, we consider the person who patents the idea to be the primary inventor, the one who (finally) has the critical insight that takes a hypothetical from theory to practice. And Lamarr did exactly that. The rest was engineering. Development, not invention.
DeleteAnon schooling Ritchie P. Go watch the documentary on her, it's very good.
Delete"Professional inventor" is an oxymoron. EVERY inventor is an amateur, by definition - an amateur is one who is not expert in a field, and an invention is, by definition, new.... so one cannot be an expert (that is, well trained and highly knowledgeable) about it. One might argue that Ron Popeil was a 'professional' inventor (he never claimed that). He was certainly a serial inventor (as are many who invent). Whether that was a profession, or he was a professional, is one of those arguments that can go on as long as the bar is open and the beer is plentiful.
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