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Spread Spectrum: Hedy Lamarr and the mobile phone
This popular book was updated in 2013 just thirteen years after the death of the glamourous film star Hedy Lamarr. She was a famous Hollywood star and the first woman to appear naked on film. George Antheil was a piano player and composer. So just how did these two come to invent the latest technology used by the mobile phone? Or did they? She was labelled 'the most beautiful girl in the world' and he 'the bad boy of music' yet way back in 1942 they took out a patent covering the vital radio technique that we now call spread spectrum. This absorbing book traces the eventful and sometimes scandalous lives of Hedy and George. It tells the fascinating story of radio and the ongoing battle to make it secure and of similar quality to wired communication. Spread spectrum emerged from that battle to become the solution of choice for anything from mobile phones to wireless computer networks.
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 19, 2006
19 people are currently reading
40 people want to read
About the author
Rob Walters
28 books2 followersI always wanted to write, even as a kid, and now I do. I can transfer the desire to other projects and often do - but if there is nothing much on then I need to write.
In my past life in the technical world I was often puzzled by colleagues who hated writing in the way that some people hate maths. They were forced to write whereas the pen had to be wrested from my hand.
When my children were young I wrote for them. I clearly recall reading the second chapter of a book I started on the lives of a family of city foxes. I had almost finished reading a section in which most of the cubs were gassed in their earth when I looked up and was amazed to see tears streaming down the faces of my two daughters. The power of the written word.
My first full book was published in 1991, It followed many technical papers and articles and was followed by two newsletters which I edited, and mostly wrote, for the next ten years. Four more technical books appeared after which I abandoned the world of technology and began doing my own thing.
I travelled, became an Oxford city guide, and wrote a number of books and articles, some fiction, some non-fiction, some published, some not. Finally, frustrated with the world of publishing, I opened my own bookshop on the web.
In my past life in the technical world I was often puzzled by colleagues who hated writing in the way that some people hate maths. They were forced to write whereas the pen had to be wrested from my hand.
When my children were young I wrote for them. I clearly recall reading the second chapter of a book I started on the lives of a family of city foxes. I had almost finished reading a section in which most of the cubs were gassed in their earth when I looked up and was amazed to see tears streaming down the faces of my two daughters. The power of the written word.
My first full book was published in 1991, It followed many technical papers and articles and was followed by two newsletters which I edited, and mostly wrote, for the next ten years. Four more technical books appeared after which I abandoned the world of technology and began doing my own thing.
I travelled, became an Oxford city guide, and wrote a number of books and articles, some fiction, some non-fiction, some published, some not. Finally, frustrated with the world of publishing, I opened my own bookshop on the web.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 30, 2018
Really interesting and surprising history
This book would benefit from careful editing to improve organization and linear focus. But it is still worth reading to learn history no one told us. But it is history we should all know.
This book would benefit from careful editing to improve organization and linear focus. But it is still worth reading to learn history no one told us. But it is history we should all know.
May 30, 2013
I started this book more than a year ago and can never read more than a couple of pages before falling asleep. It seems like such an interesting subject, but man is it a boring read.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews