researcher-one

Another interesting myth is that Hedy Lamarr was a competent mathematician. I would like to see any evidence supporting this. She quit school at age 16 (IIRC). Perhaps this is another instance where people who have no knowledge of mathematics perpetrate an urban legend, in the same way that people who have no knowledge of invention or communication engineering perpetrate the myth that the world is in Hedy's debt because "she invented FHSS."

One of the key requirements for getting a patent is that the invention must be novel. So indeed, their work is novel; it's just not of any importance at all. It is a Rub Goldberg mechanical mechanism. To understand this, you need to focus on the invention as defined by the granted claims, not on whatever prior art may be disclosed in the patent's specification (the wordy bulk of most patents).

What Antheil says and what actually happened may, in reality, diverge considerably. Antheil evidently knew exactly nothing about what was going on, except for his knowledge of player-piano mechanisms. The invention is what it is -- nothing more and nothing less -- than a cumbersome mechanical mechanism that had no further influence on anyone. His autobiographical account of events is highly dubious.

The key to inventorship, as defined by a patent, is whether or not someone contributes something to the intellectual conception of at least one of the claims. Unless the "practical implementation" makes its way to the claims, the "practical implementer" is not an inventor. Note the drawings that accompany the Lamarr patent -- anything of substance was contributed by their helper (a tenured professor of RF engineering at CalTech), who is NOT listed as an inventor.

So I ask again: given that Hedy Lamarr made no pretense of knowledge of the player-piano mechanism, and that each claim is tightly interwoven with player-piano mechanisms, what, exactly, did Hedy contribute? This is, of course, a rhetorical question; we shall never know the answer.

The following comes from CHATgpt's search on the German Army's use of FHSS during the first world war:

Here is the closest verbatim passage I found from Jonathan Zenneck’s *Wireless Telegraphy (1915), in the chapter “Methods for Preserving Secrecy of Messages.” The wording is slightly abridged due to the scan quality: “Furthermore, the apparatus can be so arranged that the wave-length is easily and rapidly changed, and then the wave-length varied in accordance with a pre-arranged programme, perhaps automatically. This method was adopted by the Telefunken Co. at one time.”

Note that the book was published in 1915, when Hedy Lamarr was less than one year old.

Anyone interested in the topic might also look at the work of Dr. Tony Rothman on the same question of Hedy's supposed invention. Tony was the scientific advisor to the filming of the PBS special called "Bombshell." He is a man of considerable standing, accomplishments, and qualifications.

Regarding Hedy's patent -- as I said in my paper, note bene: the application of a known technique (FHSS) for its intended purpose (security) does not constitute an invention. Hedy'a attorney tried to convey this message to her in his correspondence, but the message never sunk in.