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BuckyWorks: Buckminster Fuller's Ideas for Today Hardcover – April 2, 1996

by J. Baldwin (Author)
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 23 ratings
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"A pleasure to read." -Architectural Review

"A wonderful, nontechnical introduction to one of this century's most fascinating minds." -Whole Earth Review

"Original . . . [and] valuable, because it describes . . . Fuller's original techniques." -Architectural Record.

Architect, mathematician, engineer, inventor, visionary humanist, educator, inspirational orator, and bestselling author, R. Buckminster Fuller has been rightly called "the 20th-century Leonardo da Vinci." Written by a fellow inventor who worked with Fuller for more than three decades, BuckyWorks is an inspiring celebration of the man, his ideas, his inventions -and his legacy for our future. Featuring over 200 photographs and drawings, plus dozens of fascinating excerpts from Fuller's lectures and conversations with the author, this book offers a breathtaking inside look at one of the truly great minds of our time.

J. BALDWIN is an inventor and teacher who worked under, with, and for R. Buckminster Fuller for more than three decades. He served as an editor of the Whole Earth Catalog and the Whole Earth Review for 25 years.
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  1. Print length
    256 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Wiley
  4. Publication date
    April 2, 1996
  5. Dimensions
    8.31 x 0.79 x 9.45 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0471129534
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0471129530
  8. See all details
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4.7 out of 5 stars
23 global ratings

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Customers find the book well-written and engaging. They appreciate the clear communication of Bucky Fuller's ideas and inspiring drawings of natural geometry. The introduction provides a charming way to learn about Buckminster Fuller and his work. Readers describe the book as interesting and praise its thoughtful writing style.

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4 customers mention "Writing style"4 positive0 negative

Customers find the book well-written and informative. They appreciate the clear communication of Bucky Fuller's ideas and the inspiring drawings of natural geometry.

"...' & still now making many geo-dome tools, toys & inspired drawings of natural geometry. This book is the best low tech architecture showing 100?..." Read more

"...Excellent images and a very thoughtful and well written book." Read more

"Excellent book. Clearly communicates Bucky's ideas. Baldwin is a hard-core student of Bucky's ideas." Read more

"A great book for learning the world of Bucky Fuller, who taught us all about the beauty in architecture, marketing, and more...." Read more

3 customers mention "Introduction"3 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the introduction. They find the stories charming and interesting, with practical uses. Readers appreciate Buckminster's genius and early 20th century designs.

"...different ways with charming stories of how to build & analyze them for practical uses, efficiency beauty, etc...." Read more

"...Buckminster is a genius and have such a great respect for early 20th century innovation...." Read more

"...book is a little biased naturally enough but is still a very good introduction to Bucky. It has a place in my library." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Michael B. Sprague
    5.0 out of 5 stars How Geodesic geometry works in Architecture
    Reviewed in the United States on October 19, 2011
    Verified Purchase
    I loved Bucky Fuller since '70s from 'Whole Earth Catalog' & still now making many geo-dome tools, toys & inspired drawings of natural geometry. This book is the best low tech architecture showing 100? different ways with charming stories of how to build & analyze them for practical uses, efficiency beauty, etc. Its a peak since the Dome Books 1 & 2 '70s with 100s of ways of home & multi use building domes. This is user friendly history & potentials of how Bucky domes & many other evolution of Natures crystal geometry works in infinite potentials of creative angles, like tipis, A frames, yurts, (Domebook 2 & Domebook: How to Construct Cardboard Geodesic Play-Domes], Yomes, icosahuts, tree houses, etc.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Joel Chesney
    5.0 out of 5 stars Buckminster Fuller
    Reviewed in the United States on January 22, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    This book was purchased for the purpose of writing a book report and I was shocked at how interesting it was. Buckminster is a genius and have such a great respect for early 20th century innovation. If you are interested in inventions and engineering, you will love this book. Excellent images and a very thoughtful and well written book.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Bill MacLeod
    4.0 out of 5 stars A great book for learning the world of Bucky Fuller, who taught us all about the beauty in architecture, marketing, and more.
    Reviewed in the United States on July 12, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    This book was given as a gift to my 14 year old niece, who makes amazing origami's some of which look just like the Bucky dome. When i learned that she had never heard of Buckminster Fuller, I sent her this.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • Clark
    5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
    Reviewed in the United States on November 1, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    Excellent book. Clearly communicates Bucky's ideas. Baldwin is a hard-core student of Bucky's ideas.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Pam Bosko
    5.0 out of 5 stars A man ahead of his time
    Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2014
    Verified Purchase
    The person this was bought for was thrilled to receive and will be traveling , could not have been more happy to recieve
    One person found this helpful
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  • Lazza S.
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great primer and loads of images
    Reviewed in the United States on December 13, 2023
    If you’re interested in Bucky, this is a great start. Only downside is it’s bit outdated: it talks about Buckminster Fuller and his work in the context of “today” but this book was written decades ago so some no longer applies. It would be great if the publisher made a newer edition. Regardless, I highly recommend this wonderful book.
    One person found this helpful
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  • SailorJon
    4.0 out of 5 stars Great intro to Bucky
    Reviewed in the United States on June 10, 2011
    Verified Purchase
    Bucky was a great man, I wish I had attended one of is lectures and had gotten to work with him. The book is a little biased naturally enough but is still a very good introduction to Bucky. It has a place in my library.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Bill Bazik
    5.0 out of 5 stars A Man Before His Time
    Reviewed in the United States on January 21, 2006
    Inventor Richard Buckminster Fuller, "Bucky," died in l983 at age 88. He is known the world over for his invention of the geodesic dome. The author of this book knew him for 31 years.

    Bucky, as he was known to everyone, (except his wife of 66 years) was not a college graduate, yet he received 47 honorary degrees during his lifetime. His influence on architectural and product designing was--and still is--tremendous.

    This book is of interest not only as a tribute to his inventiveness, but for detailing why many of his concepts, to this day, have not been accepted. The full-page cartoon on page 20 is a classic example of his frustration. It depicts an automobile being made on the driveway of a home. Bucky argued for years how ridiculous it is that we build houses 'from scratch' on a house lot. If we built cars that way, as the cartoon shows, they would cost $300,000! It should be noted that the American Institute of Architects (AIA), in 1928, passed a resolution "...on record as inherently opposed to any peas-in-a-pod-line reproducible designs." Others, sewer system builders, carpenters, electricians, etc., indicated they too would oppose home-building innovations.

    One reason the geodesic dome concept succeeded was that the military did not need to consult zoning and codes when it needed a transportable light weight and super strong structure for a mountain top or an Arctic location.

    You will be amazed at how much his 1934 car designs resemble today's vans. Equally amazing is his "traveling cartridge," a small car transportable by air or rail. No need to rent a car. It could even be used as a sleeping unit.

    His "Triton City" was designed as a floating city (100,000 people) for Tokyo Bay. You see variations of this idea almost every year and it is invariably presented as a new idea. His "Fly's Eye" dome is now under commercial development and you may be seeing into the future when scanning this section of the book.

    An example of the tremendous respect for Fuller's concepts can be seen in the naming of the 60-atom carbon molecule discovered in the early 1970s. It is called "buckminsterfullerene" and is often referred to as "Buckyball." Its soccer-ball-pentagon-hexagon pattern very much relates to Fuller's icosahedron-based constructions.

    Fuller maintained that the entire universe, from atoms to galaxies, "is make made up of islands of compression in a continuous sea of tension." This "tensegrity" concept may even apply to biological cells according to a recent (1993) paper by Dr. Ingber.

    As the author often notes, Fuller--as a person and as a designer--had his faults. However his accomplishments and his influence on others far outshine his failures. Many inventors can relate to the problems due to being "before your time" and to the difficulty of displacing the "established way" of doing something.

    This book is crammed with photos, many never before published. Buy it, enjoy it. Donate it to your local school library. There is a whole new generation out there that can be inspired by it.
    23 people found this helpful
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