Inspired By Buckminster Fuller

I knew of and met Buckminster Fuller, the famous American architect, systems theorist, author, designer, inventor and futurist, through our mutual involvement in the World Future Society and its conventions as well as in the University City Science Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the think tank I worked at during my college years at the University of Pennsylvania. Fuller, in fact, was a World Fellow in Residence for the Consortium of the University of Pennsylvania (my alma mater), Bryan Mawr, Haverford, Swarthmore Colleges and the University City Science Center (where I worked). He was a legendary 20th century inventor, visionary and famous futurist who pioneered the profession with the World Future Society and dedicated his life to making the world work for all of humanity. He was aptly described often as among the greatest minds of our times. I found all of his ideas very inspiring and he had a real impact upon my mind---and everyone else’s at the time---and many others to this day and likely well beyond it. He was globally renowned for his comprehensive and innovative perspective on the world's problems. He pioneered solutions that reflected the potential of creative design to build technology that would do more with less. Fuller operated as a practical philosopher. He demonstrated his ideas as inventions. He did not limit himself to one field but strived to be a comprehensive anticipatory design scientist solving global problems. He tackled such issues as shelter, transportation, education, energy, environment and ecology, and poverty. Fuller held 28 patents  and received 47 honorary degrees. His most well-known invention, the geodesic dome, has been produced over 300,000 times globally. Fuller’s true impact on our world today can be found in his continued influence upon generations of architects, designers, scientists and artists who are working to create a more sustainable planet. He published more than 30 books. He also coined or popularized such words and phrases as Spaceship Earth, ephemeralization, and synergetic. He also created numerous inventions and architectural designs. Fuller spent his life working across multiple fields. These included: architecture, design, geometry, engineering, science, cartography and education. For half of a century, Fuller came up with many ideas, designs, and inventions for such things as practical transportation and inexpensive shelter (including geodesic domes). Fuller was most famous for these lattice shell structures called geodesic domes, which have been used as parts of radar stations, civic buildings, protest camps and exhibition attractions. Carbon molecules known as fullerenes were later by scientists named to honor him since they had structural and mathematical resemblance to his geodesic spheres that helped make him famous in the first place. Fuller believed mankind would soon rely mainly on renewable energy sources. Among these would be solar- and wind-derived electricity. He also hoped there would soon be an age of omni-successful education. He additionally was a pioneer in environmentalism and in thinking globally. He experimented with principles of energy and material efficiency in various fields of architecture, engineering and design. He was in many, many ways a person ahead of his time---someone who gave society a glimpse into the world of the future. His studies of the condition of "Spaceship Earth" caused him to conclude that humanity had attained an unprecedented state where the sustenance of all humanity could be readily attained. He was convinced that given mankind’s growing knowledge, combined technological advances and the vast quantities of major recyclable resources that had already been taken out of the earth had attained a critical level wherein everyone on earth could have all their necessities & cooperation---instead of competition---has become the optimal survival strategy. Selfishness, he opined, is now unnecessary and irrational and war can become obsolete.

P.P.S. Anything Else YOU Would Add?

The author, Dr. John B. Charnay, CEO of Charnay and Associates in Greater Los Angeles, is a leading leadership coach, business coach and life coach. He is also a top career, creativity, happiness and success coach and employment/job search coach.  He has been a futurist for quite some time. In 1972, he co-authored the book "The White House Conference on the Industrial World Ahead (a look at business in 1990) (selected papers from the White House Conference).” He is also a leading fundraising consultant who has raised over a quarter of a billion dollars during his career. Additionally, he is an award-winning p.r. consultant and a social media and content marketing advisor...and a writer and editor. He is also a strategic business development & sales and marketing consultant/business coach. He specializes in helping businesses to succeed and nonprofit charities to thrive, and assisting people in creating their ideal futures, living the lives of their dreams, manifesting all of their desires, having profitable organizations & businesses, and becoming truly successful. He is also a writer and editor...and a movie and television producer. To meet him and ask for his assistance, invite him to be LinkedIn (email in profile) and contact him today!