Hedy's Folly
By Richard Rhodes
- Release Date: 2011-11-29
- Genre: Biographies & Memoirs
Description
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, Hedy's Folly tells a wild story of innovation that culminates in U.S. patent number 2,292,387 for a "secret communication system." Along the way Rhodes weaves together Hollywood’s 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 we've come to expect of Rhodes, it is a remarkable narrative adventure about spread-spectrum radio's genesis and unlikely amateur inventors collaborating to change the world.
Reviews
Yawn
2By Derek CooksGreat subject, scattered interesting facts and historical perspective - poorly organized, and confusing as to who this story is about. Hedy shows up about every 10th page. Don't waste money buying this book - borrow it....