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Hedy's Folly: The Life and Breakthrough Inventions of Hedy Lamarr, the Most Beautiful Woman in the World
Unavailable
Hedy's Folly: The Life and Breakthrough Inventions of Hedy Lamarr, the Most Beautiful Woman in the World
Unavailable
Hedy's Folly: The Life and Breakthrough Inventions of Hedy Lamarr, the Most Beautiful Woman in the World
Audiobook5 hours

Hedy's Folly: The Life and Breakthrough Inventions of Hedy Lamarr, the Most Beautiful Woman in the World

Written by Richard Rhodes

Narrated by Bernadette Dunne

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

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Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

What do Hedy Lamarr, avant-garde composer George Antheil, and your cell phone have in common? The answer is spread-spectrum radio: a revolutionary inven­tion based on the rapid switching of communications sig­nals among a spread of different frequencies. Without this technology, we would not have the digital comforts that we take for granted today.

Only a writer of Richard Rhodes's caliber could do justice to this remarkable story. Unhappily married to a Nazi arms dealer, Lamarr fled to America at the start of World War II; she brought with her not only her theatrical talent but also a gift for technical innovation. An introduction to Antheil at a Hollywood dinner table culminated in a U.S. patent for a jam- proof radio guidance system for torpedoes-the unlikely duo's gift to the U.S. war effort.

What other book brings together 1920s Paris, player pianos, Nazi weaponry, and digital wireless into one satisfying whole? In its juxtaposition of Hollywood glamour with the reality of a brutal war, Hedy's Folly is a riveting book about unlikely amateur inventors collaborating to change the world.

Editor's Note

A gorgeous mind…

We owe our modern digital age to a Hollywood star known more for her beauty and glamour than for her brilliant mind. The story of how she invented a revolutionary communication encryption method has it all: brains, fame, war, and scandal.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateNov 29, 2011
ISBN9780307940582
Unavailable
Hedy's Folly: The Life and Breakthrough Inventions of Hedy Lamarr, the Most Beautiful Woman in the World
Author

Richard Rhodes

<p>Awarded the Pulitzer Prize for <em>The Making of the Atomic Bomb</em>, Richard Rhodes has also won the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Prize, as well as fellowships from the Guggenheim, Ford, and MacArthur foundations and the National Endowment for the Arts. He is the author of a dozen books amd more than seventy articles and lives in rural Connecticut with his wife, writer and pilot Ginger Rhodes.</p>

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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This book is great all around. It keeps a good pace diving into Hedy Lamar's adventure into inventing and her frequency hopping ideas. It also takes pleasant but informative side strolls into the other characters in her life as well as painting an appropriate setting to fully understand her story. As an engineer, it also covers the technology with a good amount of depth to appreciate the technical aspects of her contribution to communication. An enjoyable, short, but informative read. I am glad Ms. Lamar's legacy and contribution can continue through this book.