New Views on R. Buckminster Fuller

Book Overview

A serious scholarly look at the work of R. Buckminster Fuller is long overdue. While Fuller himself wrote and published many volumes, and several biographies were written about him, there is little research that contributes to a critical understanding of his work and its historical significance. The 1,300-plus linear feet of material contained in the Fuller Archive at Stanford, including papers, photographs, audio and video recordings, and models, has been recently organized and described by the Department of Special Collections, and is ready to be explored by a new generation of scholars.

Fuller's work has often suffered from lopsided treatment. Some laud him as a planetary prophet whose design science work foretold sustainable architecture and nanotechnology; others dismiss him as a "delirious technician" with a talent for linguistic obfuscation. Between adulation and disdain must lie a balanced picture of Fuller's life and his work.

This volume paints that picture by taking a broader historical view, discussing Fuller and his work in the context of larger social and cultural patterns. Fuller is a common thread in a critical cultural history that will show him to be both a participant in and a product of his times. By placing Fuller and his work in a historical framework, we will arrive at a much richer understanding of both this self-made polymath and his times. This fresh, contextual look at Fuller's work from leading scholars in different fields is an important step toward filling the void of serious scholarship on Fuller.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0804762791
• ISBN13: 9780804762793
• Release Date: May 2009
• Publisher: Stanford University Press
• Length: 248 Pages
• Weight: 0.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 7.0" x 9.9"

Customer Reviews

Rediscover Buckminster Fuller

It's been a long time since I thought about Bucky Fuller, but I read a review of this volume in "Leonardo" and thought it sounded intriguing. The essays in the book treat Fuller from a number of different points of view, not only as an idealistic thinker but also in relation to other things that were going on in the arts, architecture, and so on. Each essay does offer a new view on Fuller and it's well illustrated with documents from Fuller's own personal collection. I wouldn't call this a biography of Fuller although he's a central figure in each of the essays, but each essay is a point of view in itself showing how Fuller interacted with his contemporaries. Definitely recommended for those with a historical bent.

A must-read for Bucky fans!

Buckminster Fuller is certainly one of my favorite and most inspiring personalities of the 20th century. This book is better than others that I read because it has a nice compilation of articles which not only talk about the artist, but also the history and world that he lived in. I highly recommend this book.

Insightful, interesting, readable historical perspectives

Many people revere Bucky Fuller as a guru/philosopher of the 1960s and 70s hippie generation. Yet if you ever tried to understand Fuller by reading his "Synergetics," chances are you didn't get very far. This new anthology offers multiple historical perspectives on a character who, in the end, was a human being woven firmly into the history of the times. Interesting --and readable--articles dealing with Fuller and his world.