Buckminster Fuller, the brilliant and eccentric futurist philosopher best known as the inventor of the Geodesic Dome, was one of the most creative contributors to innovative thought and technology in the twentieth century. Incomparable designer, engineer, and architect, he proved that a lone genius, through sheer initiative, can have an astounding impact on the world. In this inspiring account of Fuller's life and legacy, Lloyd Steven Sieden brings new light to Fuller's belief system and recognizes his many contributions to humanity.
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Inventor of the geodesic dome and the phrase "spaceship earth," Fuller reportedly once had an out-of-body experience in which a voice told him: "You do not belong to you. You belong to the Universe." The cocky, self-assured architect-engineer-poet-futurist, expelled twice from Harvard, who went on to shake the world with his technological innovations and vision of global unity, is brought down to earth in this absorbing biographical study. A lecturer-consultant specializing in Fuller's philosophy, Sieden here attempts to translate Fuller's ideas from the tech-guru's convoluted, jargon-laden style into accessible language. Though many of Fuller's major projects were commercial failures, Sieden succeeds in demonstrating how his search for Nature's underlying rules of harmony and efficiency is relevant to fields ranging from aviation and manufacturing technology to environmentalism, housing, parapsychology and extraterrestrial anthropology. Photos.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
"Buckminster Fuller's Universe is a vivid, personal and revealing work which brings Fuller home to today’s people." -- Barbara Marx Hubbard, futurist & author
"Everybody concerned about the planet should read this book. It fully illustrates that a great man walked among us." -- Larry King, talk show host & author
"Sieden probes beyond Fuller's famous inventions to offer a unique psychological perspective on the roots of his successes and failures." -- Amory B. Lovins, Director of Research, Rocky Mountain Institute
"Sieden's biography is a tribute to a great man." -- Marilyn Ferguson, author The Aquarian Conspiracy
"This is a very necessary and useful book. It is not written in Fuller's language. You will understand it." -- John Cage
...lays out the saga of one of the great minds of the 20th century... his complicated ideas come into focus. -- Timothy Willard, Former Editor, The Futurist
Fuller is brought down to earth in this absorbing biographical study. -- Publisher's Weekly
“Sieden has done a magnificent job of simplifying and restating Fuller’s comprehensive view.” -- Rev. Peggy Bassett, D.D., Former President United Church of Religious Science Worldwide
“Sieden has succeeded in bringing Fuller back as vibrant and thought provoking as ever, in a way we can understand.” -- Allan Ray Putnam, Former Director, American Society for Metals
"Everybody concerned about the planet should read this book. It fully illustrates that a great man walked among us." -- Larry King, talk show host & author
"Sieden probes beyond Fuller's famous inventions to offer a unique psychological perspective on the roots of his successes and failures." -- Amory B. Lovins, Director of Research, Rocky Mountain Institute
"Sieden's biography is a tribute to a great man." -- Marilyn Ferguson, author The Aquarian Conspiracy
"This is a very necessary and useful book. It is not written in Fuller's language. You will understand it." -- John Cage
...lays out the saga of one of the great minds of the 20th century... his complicated ideas come into focus. -- Timothy Willard, Former Editor, The Futurist
Fuller is brought down to earth in this absorbing biographical study. -- Publisher's Weekly
“Sieden has done a magnificent job of simplifying and restating Fuller’s comprehensive view.” -- Rev. Peggy Bassett, D.D., Former President United Church of Religious Science Worldwide
“Sieden has succeeded in bringing Fuller back as vibrant and thought provoking as ever, in a way we can understand.” -- Allan Ray Putnam, Former Director, American Society for Metals
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
28 of 29 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I love to read books that I don't completely understand the first time through. This is certainly one of those books.
Part biography, part scientific dissertation, the author enlightens us on the wonderful and extraordinary life of R. Buckminster Fuller, a true renaissance man.
Many people have never even heard of Buckminster Fuller... but his ideas, inventions and philosophy have touched the lives of everyone on here on 'Spaceship Earth' as he liked to call it.
Just take a trip down to Epcot in Orlando, FL and see a geodesic sphere in real life, one that engineers and construction types said would not stand... its been standing there for almost 20 years now. Or, look down the street to the Contemporary Resort at the Magic Kingdom. Built entirely with modular construction and finished in record time.. a la "Bucky" Fuller.
Certainly this man was a great innovator... but what I was most impressed with was his 'comprensivist' point of view. He always strove to see the big picture of what is happening on Earth as well as the entire Universe around us.
Get this book if you want to open you mind to new ideas and paradigms. It has changed the way I look at many different things now.
23 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I've tried to dive into some of the books actually written by Buckminster Fuller without success. His ideas have always intrigued me, but I found his writing style to be rambling and confusing. This book, however, is an excellent introduction to Fuller's life and ideas, without the confusing detritus. I don't have a strong math or science background, so I appreciated the fact that the author was able to explain Fuller's ideas without resorting to complex equations or formulas. The biographical aspects of this book are also quite interesting. It is chronologically arranged so that the reader can track the evolution of Fuller's thoughts as he progressed through life.
22 of 23 people found the following review helpful
By Leif Thor...
Format:Paperback
This was the first book I read about Buckminster Fuller. It was a great introduction to the man because a lot of people go right to his written works which can be hard to digest at first because he's just a very intense human being.
Reading this book first enabled me to understand Bucky so when I did move on the Critical Path and Synergetics I knew what I was getting in to. And boy if your ready to go through the mirror to see the truth, you're in for the ride of your life!
Enjoy!
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
By hapathy
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
On the plus side, this book is written in clear English and gives a good overview of Bucky's inventions and ideas. It helps those of us who didn't live through it, understand what all the fuss about Buckminster Fuller is about. And Bucky's ideas are in fact quite relevant to the present time.
However, on the negative side, there is a bit too much pro-Bucky "cheerleading" in this book for my taste. Although, I have zero desire to hear any "dirty laundry" or negative personal anecdotes about Bucky, I really would have liked to have learned just a bit about what Bucky's intellectual critics thought as well. There are always other resources for that though. This book is unabashedly about Bucky "worship", and considering that Bucky was probably indeed a genius, perhaps it's excusable.
Another complaint I have about this book is that it doesn't give as complete a picture of Bucky's life as it pertains to his intellectual development, as I'd like. For instance it almost seems from this book that Bucky quits his job in his early 30's and becomes a genius based on a bit of naval experience and personal studying and little more. I can't help think that there is much much more to the intellectual development of Buckminster Fuller than we are shown in this book.
Still this is a good introduction to Buckminster Fuller. It doesn't delve deeply into Bucky's views on math, but I suspect that is because even the author of this book doesn't understand them! There are still a few parts of Bucky's philosophy as explained in this book, that I don't understand at all, but I suspect they may be very difficult concepts to explain and grasp, and that I'd probably have to pick up a much more difficult book than this one to understand them, assuming they are indeed understandable.
However, on the negative side, there is a bit too much pro-Bucky "cheerleading" in this book for my taste. Although, I have zero desire to hear any "dirty laundry" or negative personal anecdotes about Bucky, I really would have liked to have learned just a bit about what Bucky's intellectual critics thought as well. There are always other resources for that though. This book is unabashedly about Bucky "worship", and considering that Bucky was probably indeed a genius, perhaps it's excusable.
Another complaint I have about this book is that it doesn't give as complete a picture of Bucky's life as it pertains to his intellectual development, as I'd like. For instance it almost seems from this book that Bucky quits his job in his early 30's and becomes a genius based on a bit of naval experience and personal studying and little more. I can't help think that there is much much more to the intellectual development of Buckminster Fuller than we are shown in this book.
Still this is a good introduction to Buckminster Fuller. It doesn't delve deeply into Bucky's views on math, but I suspect that is because even the author of this book doesn't understand them! There are still a few parts of Bucky's philosophy as explained in this book, that I don't understand at all, but I suspect they may be very difficult concepts to explain and grasp, and that I'd probably have to pick up a much more difficult book than this one to understand them, assuming they are indeed understandable.
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
If you've never read any of Bucky's books, this would be a great place to start. It summarizes alot of his ideas in the context of his life story. Many of his books are very difficult to read due to his very unique style of communication, but this one puts most of his thoughts into more standard literary form...without losing the gist of his ideas. Start here, and if you get intrigued move on to 'Critical Path'. If you make it through that and are still interested, there's plenty more!
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
"Buckminster Fuller's Universe" is full of information that is very pertinent to current problems in our world today, e.g., providing all people on Space Ship Earth with affordable and environmentally sound food, housing, and transportation. Sieden's passionate but not sentimental description of the obstacles Bucky faced from Corporate America lends to the compelling nature of this book. "Galileo's Daughter" depicted Galileo's genius colliding with the monolithic Church of the sixteenth century, Sieden shows Bucky's genius colliding with plumbers, architects, auto manufacturers, bureaucrats as well as ideals of the capitalist economic system. I was filled with hope by Bucky's continued enthusiasm and creativity even in the face of such huge obstacles. Sieden states that Bucky believed that Earth's problems will be solved by individual thinking and efforts and not by bureaucratic leaders or endeavors. Although, Bucky states governments can thwart or support the education and thinking of its citizens. Sieden's writing is easy to digest even when the subject matter is very complex. Seattle's Intiman Theatre will stage a production of "R. Buckminster Fuller: The History (and Mystery) of the Universe" June 8 to July 7, 2001. Which goes to show how relevant Bucky is to today's world. I strongly recommend this book for folks concerned about Earth's problems and to hear solutions from one of Earth's geniuses.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Book is sorta a biography,...
Very informative, only con is the inventions are not covered in much detail.
Excellent book all in all, Enjoyed it.
Excellent book all in all, Enjoyed it.
Published 5 months ago by Neven01
2.0 out of 5 stars
Too much
I hate to be contrarian, but this was one of the worst books I have ever read. The author spends much of the book over-praising the genius of Buckminster Fuller, which should lead... Read more
Published on July 16, 2007 by Greg Coombe
5.0 out of 5 stars
GREAT BOOK
This biography of Bucky fuller is a very good read. It is detailed and well written. I ordered the book with no prior knowledge of the author or his writing style, but after the... Read more
Published on January 9, 2007 by Michael P. Moore
5.0 out of 5 stars
Thank you-I finally understand Bucky
All I can say is thank you to Mr. Sieden for finally helping me to understand the great Buckminster Fuller. Read more
Published on February 21, 2005 by Brilliant Minds
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best on Buckminster
This is one of the best books on Buckminster's life and ideas. Highly recommended, especially for entrepreneurs or futurists.
Published on November 16, 2004 by Brian Petula
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent incentive reading!!
Buckminster Fuller's Universe,Is a fascinating journey into the genius and foresight of a man whose ideas,tenacity and intellectuality have clearly impacted our world. Read more
Published on August 28, 2000 by "robbshepherd"
5.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent work on a complex man.
An excellent book that reveals much of the enigmatic Mr. Fuller. This book makes the "experiment" that was Buckminster Fuller's life easy to grasp. Read more
Published on August 24, 2000 by Jeff Cathey
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 10
books:
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6
books
cite this book:
See all 6 books citing this book
- Pilot for Spaceship Earth: R. Buckminster Fuller, Architect, Inventor, and Poet by Athena V. Lord on 29 pages
- The Dymaxion World of Buckminster Fuller by R. Buckminster Fuller on 23 pages
- Wizard of the Dome: R. Buckminster Fuller, Designer for the Future by Sidney. Rosen on 22 pages
- Nine Chains to the Moon by R. B. Fuller on 9 pages
- No More Secondhand God: And Other Writings by R Buckminster Fuller on 4 pages
See all 10 books this book cites
- Think Like a Genius by Todd Siler on page 205, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Architecture and Nature: Creating the American Landscape by Sarah Bonnemaison on page 341, and Back Matter
- Architecture and Nature: Creating the American Landscape by Sarah Bonnemaison on page 341, and Back Matter
- 20th Century Architecture - A Reader's Guide by Martin Pawley on page 39, and Back Matter
- NeanderThin: Eat Like a Caveman to Achieve a Lean, Strong, Healthy Body by Ray Audette in Back Matter
See all 6 books citing this book
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