I.

Introduction

R. Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983), American engineer, inventor, designer, architect, writer, educator, philosopher, and poet, noted for his innovative use of technology to deal with global problems facing humanity in the second half of the 20th century.

Richard Buckminster Fuller, a great-nephew of the transcendentalist Margaret Fuller, was born in Milton, Massachusetts, July 12, 1895. He attended Harvard University from 1913 to 1915. In the early 1920s he joined his father-in-law in developing the Stockade Building System for producing lightweight, insulated, fireproof, and waterproof housing. When the company failed, Fuller dedicated himself to finding entirely new ways to increase the social benefits accruing from efficient and principled use of the earth's energy and material resources.