'Frequency Hopping' Stage Play (broadcast Friday, June 20th, 2008)

Ira talks with Elyse Singer, the writer and director of "Frequency Hopping," a play about a collaboration between Hollywood film legend Hedy Lamarr and composer George Antheil. (Credits: ) See More Videos

In 1940, Hollywood film legend Hedy Lamarr and composer George Antheil undertook a unique collaboration -- but not one that took place on stage or screen. The two developed a method for radio control of torpedoes incorporating the idea of 'frequency hopping,' a method of making the transmitter and receiver in the control shift radio frequencies in sync with each other to minimize the potential that the transmission would be jammed.

In this segment, Ira talks with Elyse Singer, the writer and director of 'Frequency Hopping,' a stage play about Lamarr and Antheil's work. The play was the 2007 winner of the STAGE award. Teachers, find more information about using Science Friday as a classroom resource in the Kids' Connection.