Design Science
R. Buckminster Fuller spent much of the early 20th Century looking for ways to improve human shelter by:
- Applying modern technological know-how to shelter construction.
- Making shelter more comfortable and efficient.
- Making shelter more economically available to a greater number of people.
Actual satelite photo of earth at night, image courtesy of NASA, click here to see more images
Our Spaceship Earth: The purpose of this section of the site is to provide access to resources and tools that will assist visitors in acquiring a comprehensive understanding and visual grasp of the status of our planet's life support systems. The Dymaxion Map, World Game, and the Design Science Decade represent Fuller's pioneering work in this field and serve as important historical and inspirational reference points.
What is Spaceship Earth ?
The following definition is from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Spaceship Earth is a world view term usually expressing concern over the use of limited resources available on Earth.
It may have been derived from a passage in Henry George's best known work, Progress and Poverty1 (1879). From book IV, chapter 2: "It is a well-provisioned ship, this on which we sail through space. If the bread and beef above decks seem to grow scarce, we but open a hatch and there is a new supply, of which before we never dreamed. And very great command over the services of others comes to those who as the hatches are opened are permitted to say, 'This is mine!'"
Fuller Projection
A New View for the New Millennium...A powerful tool for advancing humanity's option for success...
Hydrogen could be a clean, abundant energy source, but it's difficult to store in bulk. In new research, materials scientists at Rice University have made the surprising discovery that tiny carbon capsules called buckyballs are so strong they can hold volumes of hydrogen nearly as dense as those at the center of Jupiter.
The research appears on the March 2008 cover of the American Chemical Society's journal Nano Letters.
"Based on our calculations, it appears that some buckyballs are capable of holding volumes of hydrogen so dense as to be almost metallic," said lead researcher Boris Yakobson, professor of mechanical engineering and materials science at Rice. "It appears they can hold about 8 percent of their weight in hydrogen at room temperature, which is considerably better than the federal target of 6 percent."
The Department of Energy has devoted more than $1 billion to developing technologies for hydrogen-powered automobiles, including technologies to cost-effectively store hydrogen for use in cars. Hydrogen is the lightest element in the universe, and it is very difficult to store in bulk. For hydrogen cars to be competitive with gasoline-powered cars, they need a comparable range and a reasonably compact fuel system. It's estimated that a hydrogen-powered car with a suitable range will require a storage system with densities greater than those found in pure, liquid hydrogen.
Image courtesy of NASA, 2002.
A tribute by Dr. Michael Ben-Eli
September 15, 2007 - If anyone deserves to be remembered as a Master Design Scientist it would surely be Paul MacCready, who passed on August 28, 2007.
Paul spent his career pioneering extreme transportation solutions and the company he founded in 1971, AeroVironment, is a hotbed of breakthrough innovations in unmanned aerial vehicles, electric vehicles and non-polluting, alternative energy systems. In his work, Paul epitomized Bucky’s concept of doing more with less. He made aviation history in 1979, with Gossamer Condor, the first ever craft to sustain a controlled, human-powered flight. The feather light Condor, weighting only 70 pounds with a wing span of 90 feet, challenged conventional thinking about vehicle efficiency demonstrating an effective application of radical “performance per pound.” It was followed by the Gossamer Albatross and the first human-powered flight across the English Channel. Then came the sun-powered Solar Challenger, flying from Paris to an airfield in the UK, and later the remote-controlled, solar-powered Path Finder, which reached fifty thousand feet into the stratosphere.
By Eric Malnic, Special to The Times
August 30, 2007
Paul B. MacCready, the Caltech-trained scientist and inventor who created the Gossamer Condor -- the first successful human-powered airplane -- as well as other innovative aircraft, has died. He was 81.
MacCready died in his sleep at his Pasadena home Tuesday, according to an announcement from AeroVironment Inc., the Monrovia-based company he founded. The statement said he had been recently diagnosed with a serious ailment but the cause of death was not listed.
An accomplished meteorologist, a world-class glider pilot and a respected aeronautical engineer, MacCready headed the team that designed and built the Gossamer Condor and the Gossamer Albatross -- two flimsy, awkward-looking planes powered by a furiously pedaling bicycle racer -- that won him international fame and $300,000 in prize money.
He also built and flew a radio-controlled replica of a prehistoric pterodactyl, the largest creature that ever took to the air.
His successes in these and other imaginative projects led to more than 30 prestigious awards, including the Collier Trophy for achievement in aeronautics and astronautics, and five honorary degrees.
Continue reading at latimes.com
This is the index to structure and content of the BUCKMINSTER FULLER ARCHIVES as it was originally conceived. You will find sample materials from all of the Sections on this web site. We have, however, reorganized the materials in way we hope will be more assessable. It is our intention over the months to make more and more materials available to all our web site users.
THE LINKS ON THIS POST ARE CURRENTLY NOT FUNCTIONING. TO DOWNLOAD THE DECADE DOCUMENTS PLEASE VISIT:The Buckminster Fuller Challenge - Reference Documents
WORLD DESIGN SCIENCE DECADE DOCUMENTS
Seven publications from the World Design Science Decade 1965-1975 series.
Doc. 1: "Inventory of World Resources, Human Trends and Needs," by R.B. Fuller;
Doc. 2: "The Design Initiative," by R.B. Fuller;
Doc. 3: "Comprehensive Thinking," by R.B. Fuller;
Doc.4:: "The Ten Year Program," by J. McHale;
Doc. 5: "Comprehensive Design Strategy," by R.B. Fuller (published in UTOPIA OR OBLIVION);
Doc. 6: "The Ecological Context," by J. McHale;
Doc. 7: "The World Game," by R.B. Fuller.
The documents were produced by Fuller and edited by John McHale, from 1965 to 1975, and remain an important educational tool. McHale summarized the intent of this work “as merely to provide a swift and comprehensive glance at certain fundamental trends in man’s present relation to the environment and indicate broadly how these trendings may relate to the forward task of assessing more completely mans present and future needs.”
So evolution seems to have some very powerful curves which you (the World Resources Inventory staff) are trying to find - not trying to invent”
—R. Buckminster Fuller, World Game, Doc 1, 1971
Original books digitized by volunteers: Tony McKinley, Ed Lynch, John Collins, Bill Johnson, Suzy Evans, Michael Paterra.
VOLUMES IN THE WORLD RESOURCES INVENTORY (World Design Science Decade)
World Resources Inventory, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois U.S.A.
Document 1 (Phase I) of the World Design Science Documents
Document 5 (Phase II) of the World Design Science Documents
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Listen to interviews of Bonnie DeVarco and David McConville and learn how thanks to a creative re-visioning of his concept and the application of the latest digital visualization technologies, Fuller's Geoscope will be coming to life soon in ways far more powerful than his own original conception.
» click here to listen to the podcast |
buckymap-puzzle, a screen-based application - An online puzzle of the Buckminster Fuller Projection "Our Spaceship Earth" satellite map. Turning maps up side down, dressing the image of the earth in another fashion can renew our vision of the world. Buckminster Fuller did this with his Dymaxion World Map (1936-1956), that is build up out of triangles that can be put together in all kind of variations. The continent as a continuous unity. In Fullers words: "the outdated divisions of the world in East and West, North and South". Here you can play the best known variation.
In 2001, the digital buckymap puzzle was produced by Susanne Schuricht in collaboration with Holger Struppek and Lauren Darges from the Buckminster Fuller Institute. It's dedicated to Buckminster Fuller and created as a kind of present for the Buckminster Fuller Institute.
By ALASTAIR GORDON | Published: January 11, 2007
Photograph courtesy of Bryce Harper | The New York Times
BRUCE NELKIN decided in the 10th grade that he would someday live in a geodesic dome, after seeing a picture of one in a science book. “It looked like something out of ‘Star Wars,’ ” Mr. Nelkin said. “I thought it was the coolest thing I’d ever seen, and I said to myself, ‘When I grow up I’m going to build one of those.’ ”
» read the rest of this article
Listing of Dome Manufacturers
Aluminum Geodesic Spheres
Specializes in aluminum geodesic domes and spheres and geodesic modeling kits. Has a 6' playdome.
Building types: Specialized ⋅ Market area: worldwide
2111 Southwest 31st Avenue
Pembroke Park, FL 33009
Contact: Edwin O'Toole: (954) 963 2341
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Spaceship Earth Satellite Maps are back in stock! Newly printed and color-corrected in collaboration with Jim Knighton, these maps show the earth in brilliant color with the least distortion of any map on the market.
» Get yours today!
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