Buckminster Fuller

Born Richard Buckminster FullerJuly 12, 1895Milton, Massachusetts,United States

Died July 1, 1983 (aged 87)Los Angeles, United States

Occupation Designer, author, inventor

Spouse(s) Anne Hewlett (m. 1917)

Buckminster FullerFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the EP by Nerina Pallot, see Buckminster Fuller EP.

Richard Buckminster "Bucky" Fuller (/ˈfʊlәr/; July12, 1895 – July 1, 1983)[1] was an American architect,systems theorist, author, designer, and inventor.

Fuller published more than 30 books, coining orpopularizing terms such as "Spaceship Earth",ephemeralization, and synergetic. He also developednumerous inventions, mainly architectural designs,and popularized the widely known geodesic dome.Carbon molecules known as fullerenes were laternamed by scientists for their structural andmathematical resemblance to geodesic spheres.

Fuller was the second president of Mensa from 1974to 1983.[2]

Contents

1 Biography1.1 Education1.2 Wartime experience1.3 Depression and epiphany1.4 Recovery1.5 Geodesic domes1.6 Best­known work1.7 World stage1.8 Honors1.9 Last filmed appearance1.10 Death

2 Philosophy and worldview3 Major design projects

3.1 The geodesic dome3.2 Transportation3.3 Housing3.4 Dymaxion map and World Game

4 Quirks5 Language and neologisms6 Concepts and buildings7 Influence and legacy8 Patents9 Bibliography10 See also11 References12 Further reading13 External links

Guinea Pig B:

I AM NOW CLOSE TO 88 and I amconfident that the only thing important aboutme is that I am an average healthy human. Iam also a living case history of a thoroughlydocumented, half­century, search­and­research project designed to discover what, ifanything, an unknown, moneyless individual,with a dependent wife and newborn child,might be able to do effectively on behalf ofall humanity that could not be accomplishedby great nations, great religions or privateenterprise, no matter how rich or powerfullyarmed.— Bucky Fuller, 1983[3]

Biography

Fuller was born on July 12, 1895, in Milton, Massachusetts, the son of Richard Buckminster Fuller andCaroline Wolcott Andrews, and also the grandnephew of the American Transcendentalist MargaretFuller. He attended Froebelian Kindergarten. Spending much of his youth on Bear Island, in PenobscotBay off the coast of Maine, he had trouble with geometry, being unable to understand the abstractionnecessary to imagine that a chalk dot on the blackboard represented a mathematical point, or that animperfectly drawn line with an arrow on the end was meant to stretch off to infinity. He often madeitems from materials he brought home from the woods, and sometimes made his own tools. Heexperimented with designing a new apparatus for human propulsion of small boats. By the age of 12 hehad "invented" a 'push pull' system for propelling a row boat through the use of an inverted umbrellaconnected to the transom with a simple oar lock which allowed the user to face forward to point the boattoward its destination. Later in life Fuller took exception to the term "invention".

Years later, he decided that this sort of experience had provided him with not only an interest in design,but also a habit of being familiar with and knowledgeable about the materials that his later projectswould require. Fuller earned a machinist's certification, and knew how to use the press brake, stretchpress, and other tools and equipment used in the sheet metal trade.[4]

Education

Fuller attended Milton Academy in Massachusetts, and after that began studying at Harvard University,where he was affiliated with Adams House. He was expelled from Harvard twice: first for spending allhis money partying with a vaudeville troupe, and then, after having been readmitted, for his"irresponsibility and lack of interest." By his own appraisal, he was a non­conforming misfit in thefraternity environment.[4]

Wartime experience

Between his sessions at Harvard, Fuller worked in Canada as a mechanic in a textile mill, and later as alaborer in the meat­packing industry. He also served in the U.S. Navy in World War I, as a shipboardradio operator, as an editor of a publication, and as a crash rescue boat commander. After discharge, heworked again in the meat packing industry, acquiring management experience. In 1917, he marriedAnne Hewlett. During the early 1920s, he and his father­in­law developed the Stockade Building Systemfor producing light­weight, weatherproof, and fireproof housing—although the company wouldultimately fail[4] in 1927.[5]

Depression and epiphany

Buckminster Fuller recalled 1927 as a pivotal year of his life. Fuller was still feeling responsible for thedeath of his daughter Alexandra, who had died in 1922 from complications from polio and spinalmeningitis[6] just prior to her fourth birthday.[7] Fuller felt a personal responsibility for her death,wondering if her death may have been caused by the Fullers' damp and drafty living conditions.[7] Thisprovided motivation for Fuller's involvement in Stockade Building Systems, a business which aimed toprovide affordable, efficient housing.[7]

In 1927 Fuller, then aged 32, lost his job as president of Stockade. The Fuller family had no savings tofall back upon, and the birth of their daughter Allegra in 1927 added to the financial challenges. Fullerwas drinking heavily and reflecting upon the solution to his family's struggles on long walks around

Chicago. During the autumn of 1927, Fuller contemplated suicide, so that his family could benefit froma life insurance payment.[8]

Fuller said that he had experienced a profound incident which would provide direction and purpose forhis life. He felt as though he was suspended several feet above the ground enclosed in a white sphere oflight. A voice spoke directly to Fuller, and declared:

From now on you need never await temporal attestation to your thought. You think thetruth. You do not have the right to eliminate yourself. You do not belong to you. Youbelong to Universe. Your significance will remain forever obscure to you, but you mayassume that you are fulfilling your role if you apply yourself to converting your experiencesto the highest advantage of others.[9]

Fuller stated that this experience led to a profound re­examination of his life. He ultimately chose toembark on "an experiment, to find what a single individual [could] contribute to changing the world andbenefiting all humanity."[10]

Speaking to audiences later in life, Fuller would regularly recount the story of his Lake Michiganexperience, and its transformative impact on his life.[7] Historians have been unable to identify directevidence for this experience within the 1927 papers of Fuller's Chronofile archives, housed at StanfordUniversity. Stanford historian Barry Katz suggests that the suicide story may be a myth which Fullerconstructed later in life, to summarize this formative period of his career.[11]

Recovery

In 1927 Fuller resolved to think independently which included a commitment to "the search for theprinciples governing the universe and help advance the evolution of humanity in accordance with them...finding ways of doing more with less to the end that all people everywhere can have more and more." By1928, Fuller was living in Greenwich Village and spending much of his time at the popular café RomanyMarie's,[12] where he had spent an evening in conversation with Marie and Eugene O'Neill several yearsearlier.[13] Fuller accepted a job decorating the interior of the café in exchange for meals,[12] givinginformal lectures several times a week,[13][14] and models of the Dymaxion house were exhibited at thecafé. Isamu Noguchi arrived during 1929—Constantin Brâncuși, an old friend of Marie's,[15] haddirected him there[12]—and Noguchi and Fuller were soon collaborating on several projects,[14][16]

including the modeling of the Dymaxion car based on recent work by Aurel Persu.[17] It was thebeginning of their lifelong friendship.

Geodesic domes

Fuller taught at Black Mountain College in North Carolina during the summers of 1948 and 1949,[18]serving as its Summer Institute director in 1949. There, with the support of a group of professors andstudents, he began reinventing a project that would make him famous: the geodesic dome. Although thegeodesic dome had been created some 30 years earlier by Dr. Walther Bauersfeld, Fuller was awardedUnited States patents. He is credited for popularizing this type of structure.

The Montreal Biosphère byBuckminster Fuller, 1967

One of his early models was first constructed in 1945 at Bennington College in Vermont, where hefrequently lectured. In 1949, he erected his first geodesic dome building that could sustain its ownweight with no practical limits. It was 4.3 meters (14 feet) in diameter and constructed of aluminiumaircraft tubing and a vinyl­plastic skin, in the form of an icosahedron. To prove his design, Fullersuspended from the structure's framework several students who had helped him build it. The U.S.government recognized the importance of his work, and employed his firm Geodesics, Inc. in Raleigh,North Carolina to make small domes for the Marines. Within a few years there were thousands of thesedomes around the world.

Fuller's first "continuous tension – discontinuous compression" geodesic dome (full sphere in this case)was constructed at the University of Oregon Architecture School in 1959 with the help of students.[19]These continuous tension – discontinuous compression structures featured single force compressionmembers (no flexure or bending moments) that did not touch each other and were 'suspended' by thetensional members.

Best­known work

For half of a century, Fuller developed many ideas, designs and inventions, particularly regardingpractical, inexpensive shelter and transportation. He documented his life, philosophy and ideasscrupulously by a daily diary (later called the Dymaxion Chronofile), and by twenty­eight publications.Fuller financed some of his experiments with inherited funds, sometimes augmented by funds investedby his collaborators, one example being the Dymaxion car project.

World stage

International recognition began with the success of hugegeodesic domes during the 1950s. Fuller lectured at NC StateUniversity in Raleigh in 1949, where he met James Fitzgibbon,who would become a close friend and colleague. Fitzgibbon wasdirector of Geodesics, Inc. and Synergetics, Inc. the firstlicensees to design geodesic domes. Thomas C. Howard was leaddesigner, architect and engineer for both companies.

Fuller began working with architect Shoji Sadao[20] in 1954, andin 1964 they co­founded the architectural firm Fuller & SadaoInc., whose first project was to design the large geodesic domefor the U.S. Pavilion at Expo 67 in Montreal.[20] This building isnow the "Montreal Biosphère".

From 1959 to 1970, Fuller taught at Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIU). Beginning as anassistant professor, he gained full professorship in 1968, in the School of Art and Design. Working as adesigner, scientist, developer, and writer, he lectured for many years around the world. He collaboratedat SIU with the designer John McHale. In 1965, Fuller inaugurated the World Design Science Decade(1965 to 1975) at the meeting of the International Union of Architects in Paris, which was, in his ownwords, devoted to "applying the principles of science to solving the problems of humanity." Later in hisSIU tenure, Fuller was also a visiting professor at SIU Edwardsville, where he designed the dome for thecampus Religious Center.[21]

Fuller believed human societies would soon rely mainly on renewable sources of energy, such as solar­and wind­derived electricity. He hoped for an age of "omni­successful education and sustenance of allhumanity." Fuller referred to himself as "the property of universe" and during one radio interview he

Gravestone (see trim tab)

gave later in life, declared himself and his work "the property of all humanity". For his lifetime of work,the American Humanist Association named him the 1969 Humanist of the Year.

In 1976, Fuller was a key participant at UN Habitat I, the first UN forum on human settlements.

Honors

Fuller was awarded 28 United States patents[22] and many honorary doctorates. In 1960, he was awardedthe Frank P. Brown Medal from The Franklin Institute. Fuller was elected as an honorary member of PhiBeta Kappa in 1967, on the occasion of the 50th year reunion of his Harvard class of 1917 (from whichhe was expelled in his first year).[23][24] He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts andSciences in 1968.[25] In 1968 he was elected into the National Academy of Design as an Associatemember, and became a full Academician in 1970. In 1970 he received the Gold Medal award from theAmerican Institute of Architects. He also received numerous other awards, including the PresidentialMedal of Freedom presented to him on February 23, 1983 by President Ronald Reagan.

Last filmed appearance

Fuller's last filmed interview took place on April 3, 1983, in which he presented his analysis of SimonRodia's Watts Towers as a unique embodiment of the structural principles found in nature. Portions ofthis interview appear in I Build the Tower, a documentary film on Rodia's architectural masterpiece.

Death

Fuller died on July 1, 1983, 11 days before his 88th birthday.During the period leading up to his death, his wife had been lyingcomatose in a Los Angeles hospital, dying of cancer. It waswhile visiting her there that he exclaimed, at a certain point: "Sheis squeezing my hand!" He then stood up, suffered a heart attack,and died an hour later, at age 87. His wife of 66 years died 36hours later. They are buried in Mount Auburn Cemetery inCambridge, Massachusetts.

Philosophy and worldview

The grandson of Unitarian minister Arthur BuckminsterFuller,[26] R. Buckminster Fuller was also Unitarian.[27] Buckminster Fuller was an early environmentalactivist. He was very aware of the finite resources the planet has to offer, and promoted a principle thathe termed "ephemeralization", which, in essence—according to futurist and Fuller disciple StewartBrand—Fuller coined to mean "doing more with less".[28] Resources and waste material from cruderproducts could be recycled into making more valuable products, increasing the efficiency of the entireprocess. Fuller also introduced synergetics, an encompassing term which he used broadly as ametaphoric language for communicating experiences using geometric concepts and, more specifically, toreference the empirical study of systems in transformation, with an emphasis on total system behaviorunpredicted by the behavior of any isolated components. Fuller coined this term long before the termsynergy became popular.

Fuller was a pioneer in thinking globally, and he explored principles of energy and material efficiency inthe fields of architecture, engineering and design.[29][30] He cited François de Chardenedes' opinion thatpetroleum, from the standpoint of its replacement cost out of our current energy "budget" (essentially,the net incoming solar flux), had cost nature "over a million dollars" per U.S. gallon (US$300,000 perlitre) to produce. From this point of view, its use as a transportation fuel by people commuting to workrepresents a huge net loss compared to their earnings.[31] An encapsulation quotation of his views mightbe, "There is no energy crisis, only a crisis of ignorance."[32][33][34]

Fuller was concerned about sustainability and about human survival under the existing socio­economicsystem, yet remained optimistic about humanity's future. Defining wealth in terms of knowledge, as the"technological ability to protect, nurture, support, and accommodate all growth needs of life," hisanalysis of the condition of "Spaceship Earth" caused him to conclude that at a certain time during the1970s, humanity had attained an unprecedented state. He was convinced that the accumulation ofrelevant knowledge, combined with the quantities of major recyclable resources that had already beenextracted from the earth, had attained a critical level, such that competition for necessities was notnecessary anymore. Cooperation had become the optimum survival strategy. "Selfishness," he declared,"is unnecessary and hence­forth unrationalizable.... War is obsolete."[35] He criticized previous utopianschemes as too exclusive, and thought this was a major source of their failure. To work, he thought that autopia needed to include everyone.[36]

So it is not surprising that he and others of his stature were attracted by Korzybski's ideas in generalsemantics. General semantics is a discipline of mind that seeks to unify persons and nations by changingtheir worldview reaction and the philosophy of their expression. In the 1950s Fuller attended seminarsand workshops organized by the Institute of General Semantics, and he delivered the annual AlfredKorzybski Memorial Lecture in 1955.[37] Korzybski is mentioned in the Introduction of his bookSynergetics. The two gentlemen shared a remarkable amount of similarity in their formulations ofgeneral semantics.[38]

In his 1970 book I Seem To Be a Verb, he wrote: "I live on Earth at present, and I don't know what I am.I know that I am not a category. I am not a thing—a noun. I seem to be a verb, an evolutionary process—an integral function of the universe."

Fuller wrote that the natural analytic geometry of the universe was based on arrays of tetrahedra. Hedeveloped this in several ways, from the close­packing of spheres and the number of compressive ortensile members required to stabilize an object in space. One confirming result was that the strongestpossible homogeneous truss is cyclically tetrahedral.[39]

He had become a guru of the design, architecture, and 'alternative' communities, such as Drop City, thecommunity of experimental artists to whom he awarded the 1966 "Dymaxion Award" for "poeticallyeconomic" domed living structures.

Major design projects

The geodesic dome

Fuller was most famous for his lattice shell structures – geodesic domes, which have been used as partsof military radar stations, civic buildings, environmental protest camps and exhibition attractions. Anexamination of the geodesic design by Walther Bauersfeld for the Zeiss­Planetarium, built some 20

A geodesic sphere

years prior to Fuller's work, reveals that Fuller's Geodesic Dome patent (U.S. 2,682,235; awarded in1954), follows the same design as Bauersfeld's.[40]

Their construction is based on extending some basic principles to build simple "tensegrity" structures(tetrahedron, octahedron, and the closest packing of spheres), making them lightweight and stable. Thegeodesic dome was a result of Fuller's exploration of nature's constructing principles to find designsolutions. The Fuller Dome is referenced in the Hugo Award­winning novel Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner, in whicha geodesic dome is said to cover the entire island ofManhattan, and it floats on air due to the hot­air ballooneffect of the large air­mass under the dome (and perhaps itsconstruction of lightweight materials).[41]

Transportation

Main article: Dymaxion car

The Dymaxion car was a vehicle designed by Fuller, featuredprominently at Chicago's 1933­1934 Century of ProgressWorld's Fair.[44] During the Great Depression, Fuller formedthe Dymaxion Corporation and built three prototypes withnoted naval architect Starling Burgess and a team of 27workmen — using gifted money as well as a familyinheritance.[45][46]

Fuller associated the word Dymaxion with much of hiswork, a portmanteau of the words dynamic, maximum,and tension[47] to sum up the goal of his study,"maximum gain of advantage from minimal energyinput."[48]

The Dymaxion was not an automobile per se, but ratherthe 'ground­taxying mode' of a vehicle that might oneday be designed to fly, land and drive — an "Omni­Medium Transport" for air, land and water.[49] Fullerfocused on the landing and taxiing qualities, and notedsevere limitations in its handling. The team madeconstant improvements and refinements to the platform,[42] and Fuller noted the Dymaxion "was aninvention that could not be made available to the general public without considerable improvements."[42]

The bodywork was aerodynamically designed for increased fuel efficiency and speed as well as lightweight, and its platform featured a lightweight cromoly­steel hinged chassis, rear­mounted V8 engine,front­drive and three­wheels. The vehicle was steered via the third wheel at the rear, capable of 90°steering lock. Thus able to steer in a tight circle, the Dymaxion often caused a sensation, bringing nearbytraffic to a halt.[50][51]

Shortly after launch, a prototype crashed after being hit by another car, killing the Dymaxion's driver.[52]The other car was driven by a local politician and was illegally removed from the accident scene, leavingreporters who arrived subsequently to blame the Dymaxion's unconventional design[53] — though

The Omni­Media­Transport:With such a vehicle at our disposal, [Fuller] feltthat human travel, like that of birds, would nolonger be confined to airports, roads, and otherbureaucratic boundaries, and that autonomousfree­thinking human beings could live andprosper wherever they chose.[42]— Lloyd S. Sieden, Bucky Fuller's Universe, 2000

To his young daughter Allegra:Fuller described the Dymaxion as a "zoom­mobile, explaining that it could hop off the roadat will, fly about, then, as deftly as a bird, settleback into a place in traffic."[43]

The Dymaxion car, c.1933, artist Diego Riverashown entering the car, carrying coat

A Dymaxion house at The HenryFord

investigations exonerated the prototype.[52] Fullerwould himself later crash another prototype with hisyoung daughter aboard.

Despite courting the interest of important figures fromthe auto industry, Fuller used his family inheritance tofinish the second and third prototypes[54] — eventuallyselling all three, dissolving Dymaxion Corporation andmaintaining the Dymaxion was never intended as acommercial venture.[55] One of the three originalprototypes survives.

Housing

Fuller's energy­efficient and inexpensive Dymaxion housegarnered much interest, but has never been produced. Here theterm "Dymaxion" is used in effect to signify a "radically strongand light tensegrity structure". One of Fuller's Dymaxion Housesis on display as a permanent exhibit at The Henry Ford inDearborn, Michigan. Designed and developed during the mid­1940s, this prototype is a round structure (not a dome), shapedsomething like the flattened "bell" of certain jellyfish. It hasseveral innovative features, including revolving dresser drawers,and a fine­mist shower that reduces water consumption.According to Fuller biographer Steve Crooks, the house wasdesigned to be delivered in two cylindrical packages, withinterior color panels available at local dealers. A circularstructure at the top of the house was designed to rotate around a central mast to use natural winds forcooling and air circulation.

Conceived nearly two decades before, and developed in Wichita, Kansas, the house was designed to belightweight and adapted to windy climates. It was to be inexpensive to produce and purchase, andassembled easily. It was to be produced using factories, workers, and technologies that had producedWorld War II aircraft. It was ultramodern­looking at the time, built of metal, and sheathed in polishedaluminum. The basic model enclosed 90 m2 (970 sq ft) of floor area. Due to publicity, there were manyorders during the early Post­War years, but the company that Fuller and others had formed to producethe houses failed due to management problems.

In 1967 he developed a concept for an offshore floating city named Triton City and published a report onthe design the following year.[56] Models of the city aroused the interest of President Lyndon B. Johnsonwho, after leaving office, had them placed in the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum.[57]

In 1969, Fuller began the Otisco Project, named after its location in Otisco, New York. The projectdeveloped and demonstrated concrete spray technology used in conjunction with mesh coveredwireforms as a viable means of producing large scale, load bearing spanning structures built on sitewithout the use of pouring molds, other adjacent surfaces or hoisting.

The initial construction method used a circular concrete footing in which anchor posts were set. Tubescut to length and with ends flattened were then bolted together to form a duodeca­rhombicahedron (22­sided hemisphere) geodesic structure with spans ranging to 60 feet (18 m). The form was then draped

with layers of ¼­inch wire mesh attached by twist ties. Concrete was then sprayed onto the structure,building up a solid layer which, when cured, would support additional concrete to be added by a varietyof traditional means. Fuller referred to these buildings as monolithic ferroconcrete geodesic domes. Thetubular frame form proved too problematic when it came to setting windows and doors, and wasabandoned. The second method used iron rebar set vertically in the concrete footing and then bentinward and welded in place to create the dome's wireform structure and performed satisfactorily. Domesup to three stories tall built with this method proved to be remarkably strong. Other shapes such ascones, pyramids and arches proved equally adaptable.

The project was enabled by a grant underwritten by Syracuse University and sponsored by US Steel(rebar), the Johnson Wire Corp, (mesh) and Portland Cement Company (concrete). The ability to buildlarge complex load bearing concrete spanning structures in free space would open many possibilities inarchitecture, and is considered as one of Fuller's greatest contributions.

Dymaxion map and World Game

Fuller also designed an alternative projection map, called the Dymaxion map. This was designed toshow Earth's continents with minimum distortion when projected or printed on a flat surface. In the1960s, Fuller developed the World Game, a collaborative simulation game played on a 70­by­35­footDymaxion map,[58] in which players attempt to solve world problems.[59][60] The object of the simulationgame is, in Fuller's words, to “make the world work, for 100% of humanity, in the shortest possible time,through spontaneous cooperation, without ecological offense or the disadvantage of anyone.”[61]

Quirks

Following his global prominence from the 1960s onward, Fuller became a frequent flier, often crossingtime zones to lecture in international cities. In the 1960s and 70s, he wore three watches simultaneously;one for the time zone of his office in Carbondale, one for the time zone of the location he would nextvisit, and one for the time zone he was currently in.[62]:290[63][64] In the 1970s, Fuller was only in'homely' locations (his personal home in Carbondale, Illinois; his holiday retreat in Bear Island, Maine;his daughter's home in Pacific Palisades, California) roughly 65 nights per year—the other 300 nightswere spent in hotel beds in the locations he visited on his lecturing and consulting circuits.[62]:290

In the 1920s, Fuller experimented with polyphasic sleep, which he called Dymaxion sleep. Inspired bythe sleep habits of the animals such as dogs and cats,[65]:133 Fuller worked until he was tired, and thenslept short naps. This generally resulted in Fuller sleeping 30­minute naps every 6 hours.[62]:160 Thisallowed him "twenty­two thinking hours a day", which aided his work productivity.[62]:160 Fullerreportedly kept this Dymaxion sleep habit for two years, before quitting the routine because it conflictedwith his business associates' sleep habits.[66] Despite no longer personally partaking in the habit, in 1943Fuller suggested Dymaxion sleep as a strategy that the United States could adopt to win World WarII.[66]

Despite only practising true polyphasic sleep for a period during the 1920s, Fuller was known for hisstamina throughout his life. He was described as "tireless"[67]:53 by Barry Farrell in Life Magazine, whonoted that Fuller stayed up all night replying to mail during Farrell's 1970 trip to Bear Island.[67]:55

When he was aged in his seventies, Fuller generally slept for 5–8 hours per night.[62]:160

Fuller documented his life copiously from 1915 to 1983, approximately 270 feet (82 m) of papers in acollection called the Dymaxion Chronofile. He also kept copies of all incoming and outgoingcorrespondence. The enormous Fuller Collection is currently housed at Stanford University.

If somebody kept a very accurate record of a human being, going through the era from theGay 90s, from a very different kind of world through the turn of the century—as far into thetwentieth century as you might live. I decided to make myself a good case history of such ahuman being and it meant that I could not be judge of what was valid to put in or not. I mustput everything in, so I started a very rigorous record.[68][69]

In his youth, Fuller experimented with several ways of presenting himself: R. B. Fuller, BuckminsterFuller, but as an adult finally settled on R. Buckminster Fuller, and signed his letters as such. However,he preferred to be addressed as simply "Bucky".

Language and neologisms

Buckminster Fuller spoke and wrote in a unique style and said it was important to describe the world asaccurately as possible.[70] Fuller often created long run­on sentences and used unusual compound words(omniwell­informed, intertransformative, omni­interaccommodative, omniself­regenerative) as well asterms he himself invented.[71]

Fuller used the word Universe without the definite or indefinite articles (the or a) and always capitalizedthe word. Fuller wrote that "by Universe I mean: the aggregate of all humanity's consciouslyapprehended and communicated (to self or others) Experiences."[72]

The words "down" and "up", according to Fuller, are awkward in that they refer to a planar concept ofdirection inconsistent with human experience. The words "in" and "out" should be used instead, heargued, because they better describe an object's relation to a gravitational center, the Earth. "I suggest toaudiences that they say, 'I'm going "outstairs" and "instairs."' At first that sounds strange to them; Theyall laugh about it. But if they try saying in and out for a few days in fun, they find themselves beginningto realize that they are indeed going inward and outward in respect to the center of Earth, which is ourSpaceship Earth. And for the first time they begin to feel real 'reality.'"[73]

"World­around" is a term coined by Fuller to replace "worldwide". The general belief in a flat Earth diedout in classical antiquity, so using "wide" is an anachronism when referring to the surface of the Earth—a spheroidal surface has area and encloses a volume but has no width. Fuller held that unthinking use ofobsolete scientific ideas detracts from and misleads intuition. Other neologisms collectively invented bythe Fuller family, according to Allegra Fuller Snyder, are the terms "sunsight" and "sunclipse", replacing"sunrise" and "sunset" to overturn the geocentric bias of most pre­copernican celestial mechanics.

Fuller also invented the word "livingry," as opposed to weaponry (or "killingry"), to mean that which isin support of all human, plant, and Earth life. "The architectural profession—civil, naval, aeronautical,and astronautical—has always been the place where the most competent thinking is conducted regardinglivingry, as opposed to weaponry."[74]

As well as contributing significantly to the development of tensegrity technology, Fuller invented theterm "tensegrity" from tensional integrity. "Tensegrity describes a structural­relationship principle inwhich structural shape is guaranteed by the finitely closed, comprehensively continuous, tensional

behaviors of the system and not by the discontinuous and exclusively local compressional memberbehaviors. Tensegrity provides the ability to yield increasingly without ultimately breaking or comingasunder."[75]

"Dymaxion" is a portmanteau of "dynamic maximum tension". It was invented about 1929 by twoadmen at Marshall Field's department store in Chicago to describe Fuller's concept house, which wasshown as part of a house of the future store display. They created the term utilizing three words thatFuller used repeatedly to describe his design – dynamic, maximum, and ion.[76]

Fuller also helped to popularize the concept of Spaceship Earth: "The most important fact aboutSpaceship Earth: an instruction manual didn't come with it."[77]

Concepts and buildings

His concepts and buildings include:

Dymaxion house (1928)Aerodynamic Dymaxion car (1933)Prefabricated compact bathroom cell(1937)Dymaxion deployment unit (1940)Dymaxion map of the world (1946)Buildings (1943)Tensegrity structures (1949)

Geodesic dome for Ford Motor Company (1953)Patent on geodesic domes (1954)The World Game (1961) and the World GameInstitute (1972)Patent on octet truss (1961)Montreal Biosphère (1967), United States pavilion atExpo 67Comprehensive anticipatory design science[78][79]

Influence and legacy

Among the many people who were influenced by Buckminster Fuller are: Constance Abernathy,[80]

Ruth Asawa,[81] J. Baldwin,[82][83] Michael Ben­Eli,[84] Pierre Cabrol,[85] John Cage, Joseph Clinton,[86]

Peter Floyd,[84] Medard Gabel,[87] Michael Hays,[84] David Johnston,[88] Robert Kiyosaki,[89] Peter JonPearce,[84] Shoji Sadao,[84] Edwin Schlossberg,[84] Kenneth Snelson,[81][90][91] Robert Anton Wilson[92]

and Stewart Brand.[93]

An allotrope of carbon, fullerene—and a particular molecule of that allotrope C60 (buckminsterfullereneor buckyball) has been named after him. The Buckminsterfullerene molecule, which consists of 60carbon atoms, very closely resembles a spherical version of Fuller's geodesic dome. The 1996 Nobelprize in chemistry was given to Kroto, Curl, and Smalley for their discovery of the fullerene.[94]

He is quoted in the lyric of "The Tower Of Babble" in the musical "Godspell:" "Man is a complex ofpatterns and processes."[95]

On July 12, 2004, the United States Post Office released a new commemorative stamp honoring R.Buckminster Fuller on the 50th anniversary of his patent for the geodesic dome and by the occasion ofhis 109th birthday. The stamp's design replicated the January 10, 1964 cover of Time Magazine.

Fuller was the subject of two documentary films: The World of Buckminster Fuller (1971) andBuckminster Fuller: Thinking Out Loud (1996). Additionally, filmmaker Sam Green and the band Yo LaTengo collaborated on a 2012 "live documentary" about Fuller, The Love Song of R. BuckminsterFuller.[96]

In June 2008, the Whitney Museum of American Art presented "Buckminster Fuller: Starting with theUniverse", the most comprehensive retrospective to date of his work and ideas.[97] The exhibitiontraveled to the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago in 2009. It presented a combination of models,sketches, and other artifacts, representing six decades of the artist's integrated approach to housing,transportation, communication, and cartography. It also featured the extensive connections with Chicagofrom his years spent living, teaching, and working in the city.[98]

In 2012, The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art hosted "The Utopian Impulse" – a show aboutBuckminster Fuller's influence in the Bay Area. Featured were concepts, inventions and designs forcreating "free energy" from natural forces, and for sequestering carbon from the atmosphere. The showran January through July.[99]

Patents

(from the Table of Contents of Inventions: The Patented Works of R. Buckminster Fuller (1983) ISBN 0­312­43477­4)

1927 U.S. Patent 1,633,702 (https://www.google.com/patents/US1633702) Stockade: buildingstructure1927 U.S. Patent 1,634,900 (https://www.google.com/patents/US1634900) Stockade: pneumaticforming process1928 (Application Abandoned) 4D house1937 U.S. Patent 2,101,057 (https://www.google.com/patents/US2101057) Dymaxion car1940 U.S. Patent 2,220,482 (https://www.google.com/patents/US2220482) Dymaxion bathroom1944 U.S. Patent 2,343,764 (https://www.google.com/patents/US2343764) Dymaxion deploymentunit (sheet)1944 U.S. Patent 2,351,419 (https://www.google.com/patents/US2351419) Dymaxion deploymentunit (frame)1946 U.S. Patent 2,393,676 (https://www.google.com/patents/US2393676) Dymaxion map1946 (No Patent) Dymaxion house (Wichita)1954 U.S. Patent 2,682,235 (https://www.google.com/patents/US2682235) Geodesic dome1959 U.S. Patent 2,881,717 (https://www.google.com/patents/US2881717) Paperboard dome1959 U.S. Patent 2,905,113 (https://www.google.com/patents/US2905113) Plydome1959 U.S. Patent 2,914,074 (https://www.google.com/patents/US2914074) Catenary (geodesictent)1961 U.S. Patent 2,986,241 (https://www.google.com/patents/US2986241) Octet truss1962 U.S. Patent 3,063,521 (https://www.google.com/patents/US3063521) Tensegrity1963 U.S. Patent 3,080,583 (https://www.google.com/patents/US3080583) Submarisle (underseaisland)1964 U.S. Patent 3,139,957 (https://www.google.com/patents/US3139957) Aspension (suspensionbuilding)1965 U.S. Patent 3,197,927 (https://www.google.com/patents/US3197927) Monohex (geodesicstructures)1965 U.S. Patent 3,203,144 (https://www.google.com/patents/US3203144) Laminar dome1965 (Filed – No Patent) Octa spinner1967 U.S. Patent 3,354,591 (https://www.google.com/patents/US3354591) Star tensegrity(octahedral truss)

1970 U.S. Patent 3,524,422 (https://www.google.com/patents/US3524422) Rowing needles(watercraft)1974 U.S. Patent 3,810,336 (https://www.google.com/patents/US3810336) Geodesic hexa­pent1975 U.S. Patent 3,863,455 (https://www.google.com/patents/US3863455) Floatable breakwater1975 U.S. Patent 3,866,366 (https://www.google.com/patents/US3866366) Non­symmetricaltensegrity1979 U.S. Patent 4,136,994 (https://www.google.com/patents/US4136994) Floating breakwater1980 U.S. Patent 4,207,715 (https://www.google.com/patents/US4207715) Tensegrity truss1983 U.S. Patent 4,377,114 (https://www.google.com/patents/US4377114) Hanging storage shelfunit

Bibliography

4d Timelock (1928)Nine Chains to the Moon (1938)Untitled Epic Poem on the History of Industrialization (1962)Ideas and Integrities, a Spontaneous Autobiographical Disclosure (1963) ISBN 0­13­449140­8No More Secondhand God and Other Writings (1963)Education Automation: Freeing the Scholar to Return (1963)What I Have Learned: A Collection of 20 Autobiographical Essays, Chapter "How Little I Know",(1968)Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth (1968) ISBN 0­8093­2461­XUtopia or Oblivion (1969) ISBN 0­553­02883­9Approaching the Benign Environment (1970) ISBN 0­8173­6641­5 (with Eric A. Walker andJames R. Killian, Jr.)I Seem to Be a Verb (1970) coauthors Jerome Agel, Quentin Fiore, ISBN 1­127­23153­7Intuition (1970)Buckminster Fuller to Children of Earth (1972) compiled and photographed by Cam Smith, ISBN0­385­02979­9The Dymaxion World of Buckminster Fuller (1960, 1973) coauthor Robert Marks, ISBN 0­385­01804­5Earth, Inc (1973) ISBN 0­385­01825­8Synergetics: Explorations in the Geometry of Thinking(http://www.rwgrayprojects.com/synergetics/toc/toc.html) (1975) in collaboration with E.J.Applewhite with a preface and contribution by Arthur L. Loeb, ISBN 0­02­541870­XTetrascroll: Goldilocks and the Three Bears, A Cosmic Fairy Tale (1975)And It Came to Pass — Not to Stay (1976) ISBN 0­02­541810­6R. Buckminster Fuller on Education (1979) ISBN 0­87023­276­2Synergetics 2: Further Explorations in the Geometry of Thinking(http://www.rwgrayprojects.com/synergetics/toc/toc.html) (1979) in collaboration with E.J.ApplewhiteBuckminster Fuller – Autobiographical Monologue/Scenario (1980) page 54, R. BuckminsterFuller, documented and edited by Robert Snyder, St. Martin’s Press, Inc., ISBN 0­312­10678­5Buckminster Fuller Sketchbook (1981)Critical Path (1981) ISBN 0­312­17488­8Grunch of Giants (1983) ISBN 0­312­35193­3Inventions: The Patented Works of R. Buckminster Fuller (1983) ISBN 0­312­43477­4Humans in Universe (1983) coauthor Anwar Dil, ISBN 0­89925­001­7Cosmography: A Posthumous Scenario for the Future of Humanity (1992) coauthor KiyoshiKuromiya, ISBN 0­02­541850­5

See also

The Buckminster Fuller ChallengeCloud Nine (tensegrity sphere)Design science revolutionEmissions Reduction Currency SystemNoosphereOld Man River's City projectSpomeBucky BallWhole Earth Catalog

References1. Encyclopædia Britannica. (2007). "Fuller, R Buckminster"

(https://web.archive.org/20071021002639/http://britannica.com:80/ebc/article­9365050). EncyclopædiaBritannica Online. Archived from the original (http://www.britannica.com/ebc/article­9365050) on 21 October2007. Retrieved April 20, 2007.

2. Serebriakoff, Victor (1986). Mensa: The Society for the Highly Intelligent. Stein and Day. pp. 299, 304.ISBN 0­8128­3091­1.

3. Fuller, Buckminster (1983). Inventions, The Patented Works of R. Buckminster Fuller. St. Martin's Press.pp. vii.

4. Pawley, Martin (1991). Buckminster Fuller. New York: Taplinger. ISBN 0­8008­1116­X.5. Lloyd Steven Sieden. Buckminster Fuller's Universe: His Life and Work. New York: Perseus Books Group,

2000. ISBN 0­7382­0379­3. pp. 84–85: "However, in 1927 his own financial difficulties forced Mr. Hewlettto sell his stock in the company. Within weeks Stockade Building Systems became a subsidiary of CelotexCorporation, whose primary motivation was akin to that of other conventional companies: making a profit.Celotex management took one look at Stockade's financial records and called for a complete overhaul of thecompany. The first casualty of the transition was Stockade's controversial president [Buckminster Fuller, whowas fired]."

6. R. Buckminster Fuller, Your Private Sky, Page 277. Sieden, Lloyd Steven (1989). Buckminster Fuller's Universe: His Life and Work. Basic Books. ISBN 0­7382­

0379­3.8. Lloyd Steven Sieden. Buckminster Fuller's Universe: His Life and Work. New York: Basic Books, 1989.

ISBN 0­7382­0379­3. p. 87: "...during 1927, Bucky found himself unemployed with a new daughter tosupport as winter was approaching. With no steady income the Fuller family was living beyond its means andfalling further and further into debt. Searching for solace and escape, Bucky continued drinking and carousing.He also tended to wander aimlessly through the Chicago streets pondering his situation. It was during onesuch walk that he ventured down to the shore of Lake Michigan on a particularly cold autumn evening andseriously contemplated swimming out until he was exhausted and ending his life."

9. Lloyd Steven Sieden. Buckminster Fuller's Universe: His Life and Work. New York: Basic Books, 1989.ISBN 0­7382­0379­3. pp. 87–88.

10. Design – A Three­Wheel Dream That Died at Takeoff – Buckminster Fuller and the Dymaxion Car –NYTimes.com (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/15/automobiles/collectibles/15BUCKY.html?pagewanted=print)

11. Sterngold., James (June 15, 2008). "The Love Song of R. Buckminster Fuller"(http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/15/arts/music/15ster.html?pagewanted=all). The New York Times.Retrieved July 28, 2013.

12. Haber, John. "Before Buckyballs" (http://www.haberarts.com/fuller.htm). Review of Noguchi Museum Bestof Friends exhibit (May 19, 2006 – October 15, 2006). "Noguchi, then twenty­five, had already had enoughinfluences for a lifetime — from birth in Los Angeles, to childhood in Japan and the Midwest, to premedicalclasses at Columbia, to academic sculpture on the Lower East Side, to Brancusi's circle in Paris. Now hisexposure to Modernism and "the American century" received a decidedly New York influence."Only two years before, on the brink of suicide, Fuller had decided to remake his life and the world. Why notbegin on Minetta Street? In 1929, he was shopping around his first major design, plans for an inexpensive,modular home that others air­lift right where desired. Now, in exchange for meals, he took on the interiordecoration and chairs for Marie's new location. He must have stood out in person, too, ever the talkative,handsome visionary in tie and starched collar."See also: "The Architect and the Sculptor: A Friendship of Ideas"(http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/19/arts/design/19nogu.html). Grace Glueck, The New York Times. May 19,2006. Retrieved April 27, 2010."

13. Lloyd Steven Sieden. Buckminster Fuller's Universe: His Life and Work (pp. 74, 119–142). New York:Perseus Books Group, 2000. ISBN 0­7382­0379­3. p. 74: "Although O'Neill soon became well known as amajor American playwright, it was Romany Marie who would significantly influence Bucky, becoming hisclose friend and confidante during the most difficult years of his life."

14. Haskell, John. "Buckminster Fuller and Isamu Noguchi"(http://www.kgbbar.com/lit/features/buckminster_ful.html). Kraine Gallery Bar Lit, Fall 2007. Retrieved2014­04­18.

15. Robert Schulman. Romany Marie: The Queen of Greenwich Village (pp. 85–86, 109–110). Louisville: ButlerBooks, 2006. ISBN 1­884532­74­8.

16. "Interview with Isamu Noguchi"(http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/oralhistories/tranSCRIPTs/noguch73.htm). Conducted November 7, 1973by Paul Cummings at Noguchi's studio in Long Island City, Queens. Smithsonian Archives of American Art.

17. Gorman, Michael John (March 12, 2002). "Passenger Files: Isamu Noguchi, 1904–1988"(http://hotgates.stanford.edu/Bucky/dymaxion/noguchi.htm). Towards a cultural history of BuckminsterFuller's Dymaxion Car. Stanford Humanities Lab. Includes several images.

18. "IDEAS + INVENTIONS: Buckminster Fuller and Black Mountain College"(http://blackmountaincollege.org/content/view/45/60/). Black Mountain College Museum and Arts CenterExhibit. July 15 – November 26, 2005.

19. The Dymaxion World of Buckminster Fuller. ISBN 0­385­01804­5.20. http://www.wrsc.org/people/shoji­sadao21. "The Center for Spirituality & Sustainability" (http://www.siue.edu/maps/tour/center­spirituality­

sustainability.shtml). Siue.edu. Retrieved October 28, 2012.22. "Partial list of Fuller U.S. patents" (http://www.google.com/patents?

as_drrb_ap=q&as_minm_ap=1&as_miny_ap=2007&as_maxm_ap=1&as_maxy_ap=2007&as_drrb_is=q&as_minm_is=1&as_miny_is=2007&as_maxm_is=1&as_maxy_is=2007&q=%22inventor%3A+richard+buckminster+fuller%22&btnG=Search+Patents). Google.com. Retrieved 2014­04­18.

23. "Catalogue of Members: Harvard members elected from 1966­1981"(http://isites.harvard.edu/fs/docs/icb.topic576105.files/Harvard­elected­1966­81.pdf) (PDF). Harvard CollegePhi Beta Kappa. Retrieved 31 January 2015.

24. Sieden, L. Steven (2011). "Biography of R. Buckminster Fuller ­ Section 4: 1947 ­ 1976"(http://www.buckyfullernow.com/sect­4­bio­of­buckminster­fuller­1947­­­1976.html). BuckyFullerNow.com.Retrieved 31 January 2015.

25. "Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter F"(http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterF.pdf) (PDF). American Academy of Arts andSciences. Retrieved April 7, 2011.

26. Arthur Buckminster Fuller (http://www25.uua.org/uuhs/duub/articles/arthurbuckminsterfuller.html) Archived(https://web.archive.org/web/20140419013645/http://www25.uua.org/uuhs/duub/articles/arthurbuckminsterfuller.html) April 19, 2014 at the Wayback Machine

27. Buckminster Fuller: Designer of a New World (http://www.harvardsquarelibrary.org/unitarians/fuller.html)Archived(https://web.archive.org/web/20130806065007/http://www.harvardsquarelibrary.org/unitarians/fuller.html)August 6, 2013 at the Wayback Machine

28. Brand, Stewart (1999). The Clock of the Long Now. New York: Basic. ISBN 0­465­04512­X.

29. Fuller, R. Buckminster (1969). Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth. Carbondale, IL: Southern IllinoisUniversity Press. ISBN 0­8093­2461­X.

30. Fuller, R. Buckminster; Applewhite, E. J. (1975). Synergetics. New York: Macmillan. ISBN 0­02­541870­X.31. Fuller, R. Buckminster (1981). Critical Path. New York: St. Martin's Press. xxxiv–xxxv. ISBN 0­312­

17488­8.32. Ament, Phil. "Inventor R. Buckminster Fuller" (http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventors/fuller.htm).

Ideafinder.com. Retrieved October 28, 2012.33. "Buckminster Fuller World Game Synergy Anticapatory" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYtQ_­

rpAUo&feature=related). YouTube. January 27, 2007. Retrieved October 28, 2012.34. The Economist http://www.economist.com/debate/days/view/159. Missing or empty |title= (help)35. Fuller, R. Buckminster (1981). "Introduction". Critical Path (First ed.). New York, N.Y.: St.Martin's Press.

xxv. ISBN 0­312­17488­8. ""It no longer has to be you or me. Selfishness is unnecessary and hence­forthunrationalizable as mandated by survival. War is obsolete."

36. Fuller, R. Buckminster (2008). last=Snyder, Jaime, ed. Utopia or oblivion: the prospects for humanity.Baden, Switzerland: Lars Müller Publishers. ISBN 978­3­03778­127­2.

37. "Notable Individuals Influenced by General Semantics" (http://www.generalsemantics.org/the­general­semantics­learning­center/overview­of­general­semantics/notable­individuals/). The Institute of GeneralSemantics. Retrieved 2014­04­18.

38. Drake, Harold L. "The General Semantics and Science Fiction of Robert heinlein and A. E. Van Vogt"(http://www.generalsemantics.org/wp­content/uploads/2011/05/articles/gsb/gsb41­drake.pdf) (PDF). GeneralSemantics Bulletin 41. Institute of General Semantics. p. 144. "For his dissertation showing somerelationships between formulations of Alfred Korzybski and Buckminster Fuller, plus documenting meetingsand associations of the two gentlemen, he was given the 1973 Irving J. Lee Award in General Semanticsoffered by the International Society for General Semantics."

39. Edmondson, Amy, "A Fuller Explanation", Birkhauser, Boston, 1987, p19 tetrahedra, p110 octet truss40. "Geodesic Domes and Charts of the Heavens" (http://www.telacommunications.com/geodome.htm).

Telacommunications.com. 1973­06­19. Retrieved 2014­04­18.41. "The R. Buckminster Fuller FAQ: Geodesic Domes" (http://www.cjfearnley.com/fuller­faq­4.html#ss4.1).

Cjfearnley.com. Retrieved 2014­04­18.42. Lloyd Steven Sieden (August 11, 2000). "Buckminster Fuller's Universe" (https://books.google.com/books?

id=rG__1rhIzE0C&pg=PA177&lpg=PA177&dq=%22henry+ford%22+%22dymaxion+car%22&source=bl&ots=ZCg1rb_f0x&sig=nvoIy_cqRdV63LarGmGrD1­BT8g&hl=en&sa=X&ei=svJAVfyrKZWgyASIhID4AQ&ved=0CDIQ6AEwBTge#v=onepage&q=%22henry%20ford%22%20%22dymaxion%20car%22&f=false). Basic Books.

43. "R. (Richard) Buckminster Fuller 1895­1983" (http://www.coachbuilt.com/des/f/fuller/fuller.htm).Coachbuilt.com.

44. US 2101057 (http://worldwide.espacenet.com/textdoc?DB=EPODOC&IDX=US2101057)45. Frank Magill (1999). "The 20th Century A­GI: Dictionary of World Biography, Volume 7"

(https://books.google.com/books?id=Nq1GU6I5umQC&pg=PA1266&dq=fuller+dymaxion+car+philip+pearson&hl=en&sa=X&ei=w6w­VeuUEdDEogSx9IH4CA&ved=0CCoQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=fuller%20dymaxion%20car%20philip%20pearson&f=false). Routledge. p. 1266.

46. Phil Patton (June 2, 2008). "A 3­Wheel Dream That Died at Takeoff"(http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/15/automobiles/collectibles/15BUCKY.html?_r=0). The New York Times.

47. Sieden, Lloyd Steven (2000). Buckminster Fuller's Universe (http://books.google.com/books?id=rG__1rhIzE0C&pg=PA132&dq=Dymaxion+dynamic). Basic Books. p. 132. ISBN 978­0­7382­0379­9.

48. McHale, John (1962). R. Buckminster Fuller (http://www.anb.org/articles/13/13­02560.html). Prentice­Hall.p. 17.

49. Marks, Robert (1973). The Dymaxion World of Buckminster Fuller. Anchor Press / Doubleday. p. 104.

50. Art Kleiner (April 2008). "The Age of Heretics" (https://books.google.com/books?id=YDQgqe4lpLQC&pg=PT26&dq=the+age+of+heretics+dymaxion+like+all+other+of+fuller%27s&hl=en&sa=X&ei=FoY­Vb­QBYWDsAXt1oGwDQ&ved=0CCcQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=the%20age%20of%20heretics%20dymaxion%20like%20all%20other%20of%20fuller%27s&f=false). Jossey Bass, Warren Bennis Signature Series. "In1934, Fuller had interested auto magnate Walter Chrysler in financing his Dymaxion car, a durable, three­wheeled, aerodynamic land vehicle modeled after an airplane fuselage. Fuller had built three models that drewenthusiastic crowds wherever. Like all Fuller's other projects (he was responsible for refining and developingthe geodesic dome, the first practical dome structure) it was inexpensive, durable and energy efficient; Fullerworked diligently to cut back the amount of material and energy used by any product he designed. "You'veproduced exactly the car I've always wanted to produce," the mechanically apt Chrysler told him. ThenChrysler noted ruefully, Fuller had taken one­third the time and one fourth the money Chrysler's corporationusually spent producing prototypes — prototypes Chrysler himself usually hated in the end. For a fewmonths, it had seemed Chrysler would go ahead and introduce Fuller's car. But the banks that financedChrysler's wholesale distributors vetoed the move by threatening to call in their loans. The bankers wereafraid (or so Fuller said years later) that an advanced new design would diminish the value of the unsoldmotor vehicles in dealers' showrooms. For every new car sold, five used cars had to be sold to finance thedistribution and production chain, and those cars would not sell if Fuller's invention made them obsolete."

51. Marks, Robert (1973). The Dymaxion World of Buckminster Fuller. Anchor Press / Doubleday. p. 29.52. "Passenger Files: Francis T. Turner, Colonel William Francis Forbes­Sempill and Charles Dollfuss"

(http://web.archive.org/web/20120821193516/http://hotgates.stanford.edu/Bucky/dymaxion/crash.htm).Standford University Archives.

53. Davey G. Johnson (March 18, 2015). "Maximum Dynamism! Jeff Lane’s Fuller Dymaxion Replica CapturesInsane Cool of the Originals" (http://blog.caranddriver.com/maximum­dynamism­jeff­lanes­fuller­dymaxion­replica­captures­insane­cool­of­the­originals/). Car and Driver.

54. R. Buckminster Fuller (1983). Inventions: The Patented Works of R. Buckminster Fuller. St. Martin's Press.55. "About Fuller, Session 9, Part 15" (https://bfi.org/about­fuller/resources/everything­i­know/session­9). Bucky

Fuller Institute.56. R. Buckminster Fuller (1968). A study of a prototype floating community. Triton Foundation.57. 54. The Saturday Review. 1971. p. 90. Missing or empty |title= (help)58. Perry, Tony (October 2, 1995). "This Game Anything but Child's Play: Buckminster Fuller's creation aims to

fight the real enemies of mankind: starvation, disease and illiteracy" (http://articles.latimes.com/1995­10­02/local/me­52516_1_buckminster­fuller). The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 19 January 2014.

59. Richards, Allen (May–June 1971). "R. Buckminster Fuller: Designer of the Geodesic Dome and the WorldGame" (http://www.motherearthnews.com/nature­and­environment/the­plowboy­interview­r­buckminster­fuller.aspx?PageId=1). Mother Earth News. Retrieved 19 January 2014.

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61. "World Game" (http://bfi.org/about­bucky/buckys­big­ideas/world­game). Buckminster Fuller Institute.Retrieved 19 January 2014.

62. Kenner, Hugh (1973). Bucky: A Guided Tour of Buckminster Fuller. New York: William Morrow &Company. ISBN 0­688­00141­6.

63. Kolbert, Elizabeth. "Annals of Innovation: Dymaxion Man: Reporting & Essays"(http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/06/09/080609fa_fact_kolbert?currentPage=all). The New Yorker.Retrieved 2014­04­18.

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67. Farrell, Barry (26 February 1971), "The View from the Year 2000" (https://books.google.com.au/books?id=kVMEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA46&dq=%22fuller+is+a+man+of+exceedingly+gentle+manners%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=9KbNVMrzHaG8mQXKuIKwBg&ved=0CB4Q6AEwAA), LIFE Magazine: 46–58, retrieved1 February 2015

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69. "Stanford University Libraries & Academic Information Resources:" (http://www­sul.stanford.edu//depts/spc/fuller/about.html). Sul.stanford.edu. June 22, 2005. Retrieved October 28, 2012.

70. "What is important in this connection is the way in which humans reflex spontaneously for that is the way inwhich they usually behave in critical moments, and it is often "common sense" to reflex in perversely ignorantways that produce social disasters by denying knowledge and ignorantly yielding to common sense." Intuition,1972 Doubleday, New York. p.103

71. He wrote a single unpunctuated sentence approximately 3000 words long titled "What I Am Trying to Do."And It Came to Pass – Not to Stay Macmillan Publishing, New York, 1976.

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j­baldwin­121­detail.htm) Retrieved December 29, 2010 Archived(https://web.archive.org/web/20120824190110/http://bfi.easystorecreator.com/items/books/buckyworks­buckminster­fullers­ideas­for­today­by­j­baldwin­121­detail.htm) August 24, 2012 at the Wayback Machine

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85. Noland, Carol (November 1, 2009) "Pierre Cabrol dies at 84; architect was lead designer of Hollywood'sCinerama Dome" (http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la­me­pierre­cabrol1­2009nov01,0,5753525.story)Los Angeles Times, archived here [1] (http://www.webcitation.org/5luASo4bh) at WebCite

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87. Thomas T. K. Zung, Buckminster Fuller: Anthology for a New Millennium (http://books.google.com/books?id=VWF_6f0UCkYC&pg=PA122&lpg=PA122&dq=Medard+Gabel++and+Buckminster+Fuller&source=bl&ots=w6z3RnCDiw&sig=meVZ3aGTQ3VClDjyuS­BmjROuFo&hl=en&ei=wdsbTZC­DYL_8Aa­v_HzDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CCUQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=Medard%20Gabel%20%20and%20Buckminster%20Fuller&f=false) Retrieved December 29, 2010

88. About David Johnston (http://www.greenbuilding.com/about/about­david­johnston) Retrieved December 29,2010

89. Kiyosaki, Robert. Rich Dad's Conspiracy of the Rich: The 8 New Rules of Money, pp. 3–4. Business Plus,2009. ISBN 978­0­446­55980­5

90. [2] (http://whitney.org/Exhibitions/BuckminsterFuller), Whitney Museum of American Art exhibition,Retrieved December 29, 2010

91. concerning Fuller and Snelson (http://www.grunch.net/snelson/rmoto.html) Retrieved December 29, 201092. Hi Times May 1981, Robert Anton Wilson interviews Buckminster Fuller (http://www.bfi.org/about­

bucky/resources/bibliographic/major­articles­about­fuller) Retrieved December 29, 2010 Archived(https://web.archive.org/web/19700101000000/http://www.bfi.org/about­bucky/resources/bibliographic/major­articles­about­fuller) January 1, 1970 at the Wayback Machine

93. From Counterculture to Cyberculture: The Legacy of the Whole Earth Catalog(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5kQYWLtW3Y#t=22m40s) on YouTube (from minute 22:40)Retrieved August 16, 2012

94. "Chemistry 1996" (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1996/index.html). Nobelprize.org.Retrieved 2014­04­18.

95. http://www.allmusicals.com/lyrics/godspell/prologuetowerofbabble.htm. Retrieved 23 June 2013. Missing orempty |title= (help)

96. The Love Song of R. Buckminster Fuller (http://samgreen.to/the­love­song­of­r­buckminster­fuller/)Retrieved May 21, 2012

97. Buckminster Fuller: Starting with the Universe (http://www.whitney.org/www/buckminster_fuller/about.jsp)Archived(https://web.archive.org/web/20150813081521/http://www.whitney.org/www/buckminster_fuller/about.jsp)August 13, 2015 at the Wayback Machine

98. "Chicago's MCA to show Buckminster Fuller ~ Starting with the Universe"(https://web.archive.org/20100407000421/http://www.artknowledgenews.com:80/R_Buckminster_Fuller_Starting_with_the_Universe.html). Art Knowledge News. 2009. Archived from the original(http://www.artknowledgenews.com/R_Buckminster_Fuller_Starting_with_the_Universe.html) on 7 April2010. Retrieved August 8, 2011.

99. "The Utopian Impulse," (http://www.sfmoma.org/about/press/press_exhibitions/releases/903) San FranciscoMuseum of Modern Art press release, retrieved April 4, 2013

Further reading

Applewhite, E. J. (1977). Cosmic Fishing: An account of writing Synergetics with BuckminsterFuller. ISBN 0­02­502710­7.Applewhite, E. J., ed. (1986). Synergetics Dictionary, The Mind Of Buckminster Fuller; in fourvolumes. New York and London: Garland Publishing, Inc. ISBN 0­8240­8729­1.Chu, Hsiao­Yun (Fall 2008). "Fuller's Laboratory Notebook". Collections (Lanham, MD: AltamiraPress) 4 (4): 295–306.Chu, Hsiao­Yun; Trujillo, Roberto (2009). New Views on R. Buckminster Fuller. Stanford, CA:Stanford University Press. ISBN 0­8047­6279­1.Eastham, Scott (2007). American Dreamer. Bucky Fuller and the Sacred Geometry of Nature.Cambridge: The Lutterworth Press. ISBN 978­0­7188­3031­1.Edmondson, Amy (2007). A Fuller Explanation. EmergentWorld LLC. ISBN 978­0­6151­8314­5.Hatch, Alden (1974). Buckminster Fuller At Home In The Universe. New York: CrownPublishers. ISBN 0­440­04408­1.Hoogenboom, Olive (1999). "Fuller, R. Buckminster". American National Biography 8. NewYork: Oxford University Press. pp. 559–562.Kenner, Hugh (1973). Bucky: a guided tour of Buckminster Fuller. ISBN 0­688­00141­6.Krausse, Joachim; Lichtenstein, Claude, eds. (1999). Your Private Sky, R. Buckminster Fuller:The Art Of Design Science. Lars Mueller Publishers. ISBN 3­907044­88­6.McHale, John (1962). R. Buckminster Fuller. New York: George Brazillier, Inc.Pawley, Martin (1991). Buckminster Fuller. New York: Taplinger Publishing Company. ISBN 0­8008­1116­X.Potter, R. Robert (1990). Buckminster Fuller. Pioneers in Change Series. Silver BurdettPublishers. ISBN 0­382­09972­9.Robertson, Donald (1974). Mind's Eye Of Buckminster Fuller. New York: Vantage Press, Inc.ISBN 0­533­01017­9.Snyder, Robert (1980). Buckminster Fuller: An Autobiographical Monologue/Scenario. NewYork: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0­312­24547­5.

Wikiquote has quotationsrelated to: BuckminsterFuller

Wikimedia Commons hasmedia related toBuckminster Fuller.

Sterngold, James (June 15, 2008). "The Love Song of R. Buckminster Fuller". The New YorkTimes (Arts section).Ward, James, ed., The Artifacts Of R. Buckminster Fuller, A Comprehensive Collection of HisDesigns and Drawings in Four Volumes: Volume One. The Dymaxion Experiment, 1926–1943;Volume Two. Dymaxion Deployment, 1927–1946; Volume Three. The Geodesic Revolution, Part1, 1947–1959; Volume Four. The Geodesic Revolution, Part 2, 1960–1983: Edited withdescriptions by James Ward. Garland Publishing, New York. 1984 (ISBN 0­8240­5082­7 vol. 1,ISBN 0­8240­5083­5 vol. 2, ISBN 0­8240­5084­3 vol. 3, ISBN 0­8240­5085­1 vol. 4)Wong, Yunn Chii (1999). The Geodesic Works of Richard Buckminster Fuller, 1948–1968 (TheUniverse as a Home of Man) (http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/9512) (PhD thesis). Cambridge,Massachusetts: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Architecture.

External links

The Estate of R. Buckminster Fuller(http://buckminsterfuller.net/)Buckminster Fuller Institute (http://www.bfi.org/)Remarks at the Presentation Ceremony for the PresidentialMedal of Freedom – February 23, 1983

(http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1983/22383c.htm)Works by Buckminster Fuller (https://openlibrary.org/authors/OL770663A) at Open LibraryBuckminster Fuller, a portrait by Ansel Adams (http://ccp.uair.arizona.edu/item/10912)

Articles about Fuller

'Bucky' Gets Lucky with Stamp (http://archive.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2004/07/64155)by Danit Lidor, Wired (July 12, 2004)Dymaxion Man: The Visions of Buckminster Fuller(http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/06/09/080609fa_fact_kolbert) by Elizabeth Kolbert,The New Yorker (June 9, 2008)The Love Song of R. Buckminster Fuller(http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/15/arts/music/15ster.html?_r=3&oref=slogin%20%3C) NewYork Times article questioning Fuller's supposed consideration of suicide, (June 15, 2008)

Collections

Buckminster Fuller Digital Collection at Stanford (http://collections.stanford.edu/bucky/) includes380 hrs. of streamed audio­visual material from Fuller's personal archiveBuckminster Fuller Papers (http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf109n9832) 1,200 feet(370 m) housed at Stanford University LibrariesClara Thomas Archives and Special Collections, York University(http://pi.library.yorku.ca/dspace/handle/10315/1478/browse?value=Buckminster+Fuller&type=series) – Archival photographs of Buckminster Fuller from theToronto Telegram.

Everything I Know

Everything I Know Session, Philadelphia, 1975 (http://conversationswithbucky.pbwiki.com/) atStanford University Libraries archivesThe Everything I Know 42­hour lecture session(http://web.archive.org/web/20070717181752/http://memeticdrift.net/bucky/index.html) — video,

audio, and full transcripts.

Audio

The State of Things (http://www.ibiblio.org/wunc_archives/sot/index.php?p=390) ­ discussionabout Fuller

Documentaries

The World of Buckminster Fuller (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0243666/) at the Internet MovieDatabase, a 1974 documentaryBuckminster Fuller: Thinking Out Loud (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0196413/) at the InternetMovie Database, a 1996 episode of American MastersCritical Path: R. Buckminster Fuller (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0439521/) at the Internet MovieDatabase, a 2004 short animated documentaryThe Love Song of R. Buckminster Fuller (http://buckminsterfullerfilm.com/), a 2012 livedocumentary by filmmaker Sam Green

Other resources

CJ Fearnley's List of Buckminster Fuller Resources on the Internet(http://www.cjfearnley.com/buckyrefs.html)Buckminster Fuller (http://www.olats.org/pionniers/pp/buckminster/buckminster.php) at Pionniers& Précurseurs. Includes a bibliography"Buckminster Fuller's Experimental Finishing School"(http://press.uchicago.edu/books/excerpt/2015/Diaz_Experimenters.html), an excerpt from TheExperimenters: Chance and Design at Black Mountain College by Eva Díaz]We Got Buckminster Fuller's FBI File (http://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/we­got­buckminster­fullers­fbi­file­1704777475) (May 2015), Gizmodo Paleofuture

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