With the invention of the
planetarium projector came the innovation of the world's first
geodesic dome. A lightweight steel structural framework was built on the roof of the
Carl Zeiss optical works in
Jena,
Germany in 1922. It was then covered with ferro cement to become the first thin-shell concrete structure in history.
While the first geodesic dome was designed by
Walter Bauersfeld, Buckminster Fuller advanced the popularization and commercialization of
polyhedral buildings in the United States and is best known for his application of the word
geodesic to this type of polyhedral framework.
Buckminster Fuller was one of our world’s first
futurists and
global thinkers. His 1927 decision to work always and only for all
humanity led him to address the largest
global problems of
poverty,
disease and
homelessness. He realized early on that by
examining global problems in the
context of the whole
system—the whole
planet—he would have the best chance of identifying large-scale
trends that would allow him to
anticipate the
critical needs of
humanity. This “big-picture” approach, which Fuller formulated into a thinking
discipline,
evolved into a comprehensive
assessment of humanity’s global
situation—where we have been, where we are now, and where we are going.
Fuller called his approach to global problem-solving “Comprehensive Anticipatory Design Science.” The central
principle of this approach is “doing more with less,” that is,
securing the
maximum life-sustaining performance
achievable per each pound of material, second of time, and
erg of
energy invested. Simply put, the principle is that by using the resources on
Earth most effectively, we will have enough for everyone to enjoy a high standard of living. This is the principle Fuller dubbed “dymaxion.”
Fuller’s comprehensive research into our global situation led him to pronounce the
Malthusian world-view of human
overpopulation, resource depletion, and eventual self-destruction to be absolutely in error. Due to advances in
technology that
Malthus had no way of foreseeing, humanity has developed the capability to provide adequate
food,
shelter, and
energy for every man, woman, and child on Earth.
Fuller saw that if the
technology,
resources, and know-how that are now devoted to developing
weapons of mass
destruction were to be applied to “making the world work,” the end of poverty could be realized in a single
generation. Nearly twenty years after Fuller predicted the conquest of poverty by the year 2000, the
National Academy of Sciences confirmed his
prediction.
Fuller collected his global research at his
headquarters, which he called the Inventory of World Resources, Human Trends and Needs. The charts of the
data he compiled provide a glimpse into a few of the many
dimensions of global
problem-solving that Fuller explored. The steep and sudden rise of the curve in many of the charts illustrate a phenomenon that Fuller called accelerating acceleration, leading him to proclaim that humanity has reached a
critical moment in which new
information and
technology allow us—and perhaps require us—to make new choices that will lead to
physical success for 100% of
humanity.