Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth (Hardcover)

~ R. Buckminster Fuller (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

In this essay on man Mr. Fuller expresses what may well be his penultimate view of the human condition. Here, in a mood at once philosophical and involved, Mr. Fuller traces man’s intellectual evolution and weighs his capability for survival on this magnificent craft, this Spaceship Earth, this superbly designed sphere of almost negligible dimension in the great vastness of space.

 

Mr. Fuller is optimistic that man will survive and, through research and development and increased industrialization, generate wealth so rapidly that he can do very great things. But, he notes, there must be an enormous educational task successfully accomplished right now to convert man’s ten­dency toward oblivion into a realization of his potential, to a universe-exploring advantage from this Spaceship Earth.

 

It has been noted that Mr. Fuller spins ideas in clusters, and clusters of his ideas generate still other clusters. The concept “spaceship earth” is Mr. Fuller’s, and though used by Barbara Ward as the title of a work of her own the idea was acknowledged by her there as deriving from Mr. Fuller. The brilliant syntheses of some fundamental Fuller principles given here makes of this book a microcosm of the Fuller system.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

R.   Buckminster Fuller has been a Research Professor at Southern Illinois University since 1959. In 1968 the Board of Trustees appointed him University Professor, the second faculty member so honored in the University’s history.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details Hardcover Publisher: Amereon Limited (June 1978) Language: English ISBN-10: 089190235X ISBN-13: 978-0891902355 Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews) Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,736,292 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Look Inside This Book

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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover

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Citations (learn more)

85 books cite this book:

• Your Private Sky: R. Buckminster Fuller by Joachim Krausse on page 18, page 37, and Back Matter
• Subject to Change: Guerrilla Television Revisited by Deirdre Boyle on page 12, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
• Technology and the Character of Contemporary Life: A Philosophical Inquiry by Albert Borgmann in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
• Environmentalism for a New Millennium: The Challenge of Coevolution by Leslie Paul Thiele on page 109, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
• Subject to Change: Guerrilla Television Revisited by Deirdre Boyle on page 12, and Back Matter

See all 85 books citing this book

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	83% buy the item featured on this page: Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth 5.0 out of 5 stars (6)
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	4% buy Grunch of Giants 4.7 out of 5 stars (3)
	3% buy Buckminster Fuller's Universe: His Life and Work 4.7 out of 5 stars (14) $23.35

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Customer Reviews

6 Reviews 5 star:  (6) 4 star:    (0) 3 star:    (0) 2 star:    (0) 1 star:    (0)           Average Customer Review 5.0 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews 19 of 21 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars A primer for Bucky's followers, July 31, 1997 By A Customer If you have any interest in R. Buckminster Fuller's philosophies, inventions and thoughts, this book is a good starting point. Other of his works can be more difficult to absorb, easily. Fuller's basic concepts of "synergy," "ephemeralization" and "modern day pirates" are all made clear here. If you read this short work and are intrigued by the man and the distinctions he brought to the world, you can proceed from here. Sorry OMSE is getting difficult to find. Now that Bucky's "phantom Captain" has moved on, his words are what we have to instruct us -- these, and the wonderful contributions of Bucky's students to the "world game." 17 of 22 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Control, Operate and Plan Your Spaceship, March 10, 2000 By  rareoopdvds (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)       R. Buckminster Fuller's (Bucky hereout), designer of the geodesic dome (one can see at EPCOT), lays down the thought patterns of a successful world in this short and concise book based on his discoveries (probably more appropriate than inventions, as he said "I am not tryingto imitate nature, I'm trying to find the principles she uses"). It is in this book that Bucky gives the reader insight into how he thinks, and how to change ones thinking entirely, to see the Earth as a Spaceship. To feel yourself riding the Earth as a Spaceship. Demonstrating from the anceint "pirates" and how evolution is changed through specialization. How a wealthy nation, such as ours, cannot afford to make economical mishaps or delays on such life-giving elements as water. Moving our modes of consciousness into Einsteinian, omni-directional thinking, we can then turn to everyone to "co-operate." To help others, and not gain at the expense of others. Certainly a classic in its own right, this book will change the way you think, not about life or the world, just that you change your thinking, making every action a universal consequence. There is only one Earth, and we are all living in it. Reccomended! 6 of 9 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Must reading for todays 30 something generation., August 23, 1998 By  GTR ([e-mail]) (Michigan, North America, Earth) - See all my reviews Our forefathers, parents and their peers have delivered us a drastically (wonderfully) complex society with ever increasing difficulties, and opportunities. RBF does an uncommonly fine job of explaining some of the underlying drives that brought us here. Maybe also sheds light on a usefull path to the future.		Ad feedback   Most Recent Customer Reviews 5.0 out of 5 stars Not What I Expected But Hugely Satisfying I was actually expecting an Operating Manual. Although what I ended up with is a 136-page double-spaced "overview" by Buckminster Fuller, a sort of "history and future of the... Read more Published 4 months ago by Robert D. Steele 5.0 out of 5 stars readable bucky This is the clearest I've ever known this man to be. This concise volume gets to the heart of our wordly matters. Read more Published on November 2, 2005 by Jeremy Bang 5.0 out of 5 stars You need to read this book! I really mean it. This book makes much more sense than any government plan that I know of. We all need to read this book. Published on March 31, 1999 Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews

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Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Amereon Limited (June 1978)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 089190235X
• ISBN-13: 978-0891902355
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,736,292 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A primer for Bucky's followers, July 31, 1997

By A Customer

If you have any interest in R. Buckminster Fuller's philosophies, inventions and thoughts, this book is a good starting point. Other of his works can be more difficult to absorb, easily. Fuller's basic concepts of "synergy," "ephemeralization" and "modern day pirates" are all made clear here. If you read this short work and are intrigued by the man and the distinctions he brought to the world, you can proceed from here. Sorry OMSE is getting difficult to find. Now that Bucky's "phantom Captain" has moved on, his words are what we have to instruct us -- these, and the wonderful contributions of Bucky's students to the "world game."

17 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Control, Operate and Plan Your Spaceship, March 10, 2000

By	rareoopdvds (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

R. Buckminster Fuller's (Bucky hereout), designer of the geodesic dome (one can see at EPCOT), lays down the thought patterns of a successful world in this short and concise book based on his discoveries (probably more appropriate than inventions, as he said "I am not tryingto imitate nature, I'm trying to find the principles she uses"). It is in this book that Bucky gives the reader insight into how he thinks, and how to change ones thinking entirely, to see the Earth as a Spaceship. To feel yourself riding the Earth as a Spaceship. Demonstrating from the anceint "pirates" and how evolution is changed through specialization. How a wealthy nation, such as ours, cannot afford to make economical mishaps or delays on such life-giving elements as water. Moving our modes of consciousness into Einsteinian, omni-directional thinking, we can then turn to everyone to "co-operate." To help others, and not gain at the expense of others. Certainly a classic in its own right, this book will change the way you think, not about life or the world, just that you change your thinking, making every action a universal consequence. There is only one Earth, and we are all living in it. Reccomended!

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must reading for todays 30 something generation., August 23, 1998

By	GTR ([e-mail]) (Michigan, North America, Earth) - See all my reviews

Our forefathers, parents and their peers have delivered us a drastically (wonderfully) complex society with ever increasing difficulties, and opportunities. RBF does an uncommonly fine job of explaining some of the underlying drives that brought us here. Maybe also sheds light on a usefull path to the future.