Spread Spectrum: Hedy Lamarr and the mobile phone

I picked this up because of a strong interest in the early history of different multiplexing techniques and in Hedy Lamarr's particular role in spread spectrum. I initially enjoyed the detailed biography of Lamarr (although there doesn't seem to be much in the way of primary research here so you could probably do much better with Lamarr's autobiography if that's what you're interested in), even while I was more than halfway through and still waiting for any technical detail or insight into spread spectrum I couldn't have got from a cursory scan of wikipedia. But Walters' writing style started to really grate on me. I found the regular digressions into anecdotes about himself more than a little self indulgent (I was about to comment that this should have been flagged by any half decent editor but see that the book is actually self-published and probably didn't get much in the way of editorial input). This will sound like a strange comment on a biography, but his treatment of Lamarr was...lascivious and run through with the kind of complacent, old-school sexism that allowed Tim Hunt to comment that 'girl' scientists are a distraction in the lab environment Whatever the truth of Lamarr's contribution to spread spectrum, there was such a great opportunity with this subject to make a case for a history of women in STEM and Walters' manages to completely undermine this with his constant, borderline creepy comments about the incongruity of Lamarr's physical appearance and her role in spread spectrum, "how is it possible for Hedy Lamarr to be so beautiful and yet so clever?" and unbelievably 'Were Hedy's breasts really small?'. If you want a history of Lamarr I'm guessing you can do much better; If you know of a good history of spread spectrum, I'm all ears.

The Lamarr CodeThis is a book of the most spectacular innovation in modern times, The Spread Spectrum or the mobile phone, made easy to understand with the help of a movie star and a composer. The actress is Hedy Lamarr and the composer George Antheil, who met by chance in Hollywood and patented the concept of “The Secret Communication System” a means of reliably and securely controlling a torpedo by radio.The author is Rob Walters, Oxford, England, a well known lecturer, speaker and author of literature in telecom and of late in radio technology and specialising in the evolution of mobile communication. With all the references to historical events and persons he displays great erudition. Rob Walters may take part of the credit for the stupendous development of the mobile communication. This is due to his extensive travelling and lecturing around the world.The story cleverly intertwines the mobile story with Hollywood glamour. It is at times an unnerving thriller detailing the evolution of the different parts and bits that made today’s mobile phone such a success. It also clarifies why Europe made a head start in conquering the world with its mobile system (GSM). And today you can enjoy the flicks of Hedy Lamarr in your 3G mobile phone. Not a trifle feat. Some never die!It is a good read - enjoy!!!

The most beautiful girl in the world was also the inventor of spread spectrum. She was granted Patent #2,292,387 on 11th August 1942 with co-inventor George Antheil for a "Secret Communication System".The story behind the pair and how they made the invention is detailed in the wonderbook, Spread Spectrum: Hedy Lamarr and the Mobile Phone by Rob Walters. Apart from the fascinating story of the pair, the book's great strength is that it is written by someone who clearly understands radio technology very well and explains the applications so the non-technical reader can understand it easily.The brief story is that Hedy Lamarr was born in Austria between the World Wars, became an actress and gained notoriety as the first woman to appear nude in a film. She married an Arms dealer and entertained Adolf Hilter and Mussolini at their palatial home. She didn't like the direction that Europe was heading into (or her husband) and escaped to the USA. On the ship crossing the Atlantic, Louis B Meyer offered her a job. She starred in a few movies and immediately became famous. She met "the bad boy of music" George Antheil, who shared her hatred of the Nazi's and together they invented spread spectrum. The original application they came up with was as a guidance system for torpedo's which could not be jammed. The first application came in the 1950s with the US Navy.The story of George Antheil is as interesting as Hedy Lamarr's. He was a talented piano player and composer who moved to Europe in between the wars and experimented with new music. His lists of acquaintances are like a who's who's of the cultural scene at the time. His piece Ballet Mécanique created riots the first time it was played in Berlin and Paris. In fact only recently with the advent of computers has the piece been able to played as originally written. It sounds absolutely terrible to me. He returned to the USA and moved to Hollywood to write music for the movies where he met Hedy.Of course, the invention was too advanced for those mechanical times, but with the silicon of today it is implemented within CDMA, Bluetooth & WiFi technologies.The story is so good that I'm sure one day it will be made into a movie. The majority of current Hollywood vixens would love to play someone with more than one brain cell. The ending will have to be changed: torpedos being deployed and killing her evil Arms Trading ex-husband...