Knowledge  is  Power  

 

   This  is  Part  One  in  a  series  of  five  stories  of  inspirational  female  spies  –  a  largely  unsung  group  who  helped  in  the  war  effort.    

 

 Today’s  heroine  is  Hedy  Lamarr  –  one  of  my  favourite  women  in  20th  Century  history  because  she  was  “brilliant,  beautiful  and  bold.”    Although  not  technically  a  spy  in  the  conventional  sense  her  mathematical  genius  could  have  saved  many  lives  and  has  had  a  massive  impact  on  our  lives  today.    

 During  WWII,  Hedy  Lamarr  invented  the  concept  of  frequency  hopping  to  prevent  single  radio-­‐controlled  torpedoes  being  easily  detected.    Unfortunately  the  US  Navy  discounted  her  invention  until  1962  and  she  was  told  by  the  National  Investors  Council  that  her  war  efforts  were  best  confined  to  entertaining  the  troops  and  raising  money.    Today  Hedy’s  innovative  frequency  hopping  concept  has  been  adopted  for  the  basis  in  spread  spectrum  communication  –  principally  used  in  Bluetooth  communications,  WiFi  connection  networks  and  CDMA  (found  in  cordless  and  wireless  telephones).    Oh  –  and  did  I  mention  that  she  was  deemed  to  be  the  “most  beautiful  woman  in  Europe”  during  the  1930s  and  starred  in  18  Hollywood  films  including  Cecil  B  DeMille’s  Samson  and  Delilah?    By  Juliet  Cassidy  www.barcas.co.uk  07584  05769