The most beautiful woman in Hollywood, aka a genius inventor!
Society is backwards! Society fails its icons and takes pride in it! Society is a low IQ zone run by the ones with two operational braincells! No wonder why society sets the aspiration for mediocrity and pushes it on everyone!
Well that was my freshly baked opinion on society when I learnt the story of Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler, aka Hedy Lamarr, often touted as the “most beautiful woman in Hollywood”. And she was indeed, in the 1930s and 40s, when she ruled the silver screen. She was indeed the most popular face in the world when her iconic look from her 1941 film Ziegfeld Girl became synonymous with the symbol of Hollywood glamour and beauty. What most didn’t know that time, or pretended to not know, was the fact that she would be the revolutionary in envisioning the future of communication science and technology. Rightfully gaining the title of “the mother of WiFi” she laid the foundation for wireless communications, which also led to the birth of Bluetooth and eventually GPS technology. Her invention, “The frequency hopping technology” as they say it, was one of the major reasons the US military heading the Allied Forces gained significant advantage over the Axis Powers in the Second World War.
Society in the 1930s, however, wasn’t ready for an incredibly smart mind, that too, in a woman, and such gorgeous woman in specificity. “Beautiful women don’t have brains”, a widespread belief even Marilyn Monroe had to take to her grave. For a significant chunk of time, the world scientific community, led by a group of old nerdy men failed to acknowledge her contribution. Some even stooped low to steal her work and publish them as their own. That male ego, couldn’t take the loss from a beautiful woman and tried their best to undermine her research. Well you’d think the world has changed since the 1930s. Sadly, the enrolment of women in STEM fields remain significantly low compared to their male counterparts, even today. In a system designed against women, she had no victory. However, it’s the love for science that didn’t lose. How many times have you heard of a major Hollywood star indulging in private Physics experiments at the makeshift laboratory in her home? Aren’t they supposed to be at their glamorous cocktail events?
Society however, couldn’t contain what she had to offer. In 2014, that was 14 years after she left for heavenly abode, she was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame for her contribution towards radio technology.
