BUCKMINSTER FULLER—IF YOU ARE UNDER 40 YOU NEVER HEARD OF HIM

But if you are a soccer fan, you have seen the "Buckminster Ball" which was the official FIFA-approved black and white design for soccer balls from 1970 until now. There’s much more to this remarkable man, however. He was born in 1896 and lived 87 years. He is remembered for introducing us to what he called the natural geometry of the universe, which was based on the tetrahedral. You may have seen his application of this form in the geodesic domes seen in a world class way at the U.S. Pavilion at the Montreal World’s Fair(1967). To date there have been over 500,000 domes and housing applications built around the world. They possess great structural strength and yet are extremely light and so beautiful.

Bucky, as he liked to be called, was always ahead of his time and he was a great teacher as well. Many called him a little crazy, but back in 1932 he developed a tear-shaped car that had three wheels. The engine was in the rear and it seated 11 passengers. What was surprising is that it could travel over a hundred miles an hour and achieved wonderful gas mileage. There were so many firsts for him. He was one of the initial promoters and experimenters of recycling of materials and waste products as well as a researcher of wind electrical generation.

Although Fuller did not win the coveted Nobel prize in his lifetime, he could easily have been named in the 1996 award in chemistry, which was awarded to three researchers who created a new allotrope of carbon—"fullerene"(after Fuller)---and a particular molecule of it, C60 was designed with 60 carbon atoms. It has extreme strength and is being used in dozens of applications from steel to plastic-like materials for futuristic designs. Some of the material will certainly be seen in aircraft and car manufacture. Bucky would have liked that, I am sure.