Chapter 1: The Myth of Hedy Lamarr's Wi-Fi Creation

The popular meme circulating on Facebook features three influential men—Jack Dorsey, Mark Zuckerberg, and Steve Jobs—each claiming credit for their respective platforms: Twitter, Facebook, and Apple. Below their portraits, we see Hedy Lamarr, a glamorous Hollywood actress, boasting, "I MADE WIFI." While well-intentioned, this claim is misleading and fundamentally incorrect.

Hedy Lamarr did not "create" Wi-Fi in the way the meme suggests. Unlike the tech entrepreneurs mentioned, who were born in the 1970s and 1980s and actively contributed to their fields at a young age, Lamarr was born on November 9, 1914. Initially a film star from Vienna, she fled her tumultuous marriage to an arms manufacturer in 1937 and established a successful career in Hollywood.

The actual development of Wi-Fi took place in the 1990s at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). Lamarr was not involved with this organization, nor did she work with notable companies like AT&T or Bell Labs. Furthermore, there is no evidence linking her to Vic Hayes or Bruce Tuch, the actual developers of Wi-Fi.

Contrary to popular belief, Lamarr's communication with the outside world had dwindled by the time Wi-Fi was being integrated into technology. The idea that she played a role in its application in products like iBooks in 1999 is unfounded, as she had retreated from public life long before that.

The claim that Lamarr invented Wi-Fi is as absurd as suggesting that a deceased political figure influenced modern voting technology. It's a fabricated narrative that perpetuates the stereotype of women being inherently brilliant in science and technology. However, should we rely on such inaccuracies to support a noble cause?

In reality, Lamarr and her friend, composer George Antheil, proposed a sophisticated guidance system for torpedoes during World War II, aiming to enhance its resistance to enemy interference. They patented a method using variable frequency radio transmitters and receivers to ensure simultaneous frequency changes, thereby complicating enemy detection.

Their invention involved a complex mechanism akin to a player piano, utilizing long rolls of punched paper to synchronize the torpedo and its control ship. This method, while innovative for its time, was never adopted by the military.

While Lamarr's idea of frequency hopping was indeed creative, it does not correlate to the modern Wi-Fi technology we use today. Wi-Fi is a communication protocol that allows devices to connect wirelessly over short distances, employing various specifications that dictate its functionality.

Although early Wi-Fi systems experimented with frequency hopping, the technology evolved to utilize direct-sequence spread spectrum (DSSS), which operates differently from Lamarr's original concept. The current Wi-Fi standards, such as 802.11a, 4, 5, and 6, have shifted towards orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM), which does not rely on frequency hopping at all.

Chapter 2: The Reality of Contributions in STEM

The first video titled "Episode 136: The Invention of WiFi and Hedy Lamarr - Rewind - YouTube" explores the myths surrounding Lamarr's contributions to Wi-Fi and highlights the true story behind its development.

In a similar vein, the second video titled "Hedy Lamarr: The scandalous Old Hollywood bombshell that invented wifi! - YouTube" examines Lamarr's life and her actual influence in the realm of technology.

Despite the allure of the narrative that Lamarr was a tech pioneer, the truth is that many women have made substantial contributions to science and technology, often in ways that have gone unrecognized. Barriers such as limited access to education and resources historically hindered women's participation in these fields.

However, we now see a new generation of women breaking through these obstacles and achieving remarkable success in STEM. Figures like Professor Anja Feldman, Dr. Andrea Goldsmith, and Dina Papagiannaki exemplify the potential of women in technology.

The narrative that women are inherently less capable in science is outdated. Many women are now excelling in their fields, demonstrating that their contributions are invaluable. It is unnecessary to fabricate stories about historical figures like Hedy Lamarr to validate this truth.