Hedy's folly: the life and breakthrough inventions of hedy lamarr, the most beautiful woman in the world - richard rhodes

What do Hedy Lamarr, avant-garde composer George Antheil, and a cell phone have in common? The answer is spread-spectrum radio: a revolutionary invention based on the switching of communications signals among different frequencies.

Only a writer of Rhodess caliber could do justice to this remarkable story.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Rhodes delivers a remarkable story of science history: how a ravishing film star and an avant-garde composer invented spread-spectrum radio, the technology that made wireless phones, GPS systems, and many other devices possible.

Beginning at a Hollywood dinner table, Hedys Folly tells a wild story of innovation that culminates in U.

patent number 2,292,387 for a secret communication system.

Along the way Rhodes weaves together Hollywoods golden era, the history of Vienna, 1920s Paris, weapons design, music, a tutorial on patent law and a brief treatise on transmission technology.

Narrated with the rigor and charisma weve come to expect of Rhodes, it is a remarkable narrative adventure about spread-spectrum radios genesis and unlikely amateur inventors collaborating to change the world.