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R. BUCKMINSTER FULLER

Inventor, Visionary, Global Thinker

The relevance of R. Buckminster Fuller's wisdom and futurist ideas continue to be apparent years after his death.  One of the first global thinkers, his philosophies regarding human responsibility, universal society, technology for the common good, and world economics have remained influential. His use of an international framework in his approach to the solving of societal problems and in improving the human condition reflected his concern for the  sustainability of mankind and the planet as a whole.  His term "Spaceship Earth" is a succinct representation of this.  The two books featured here are works from the later part of his life, and continue to prove their value in the dialogue of global human geography.

                                                                                          

 Synergetics: Explorations in the Geometry of Thinking 
   R. Buckminster Fuller, in collaboration with E.J. Applewhite
   Preface and Contribution by Arthur L. Loeb, Harvard University
   NY: Macmillan, 1975
   First Edition
   Very good in a very good dust jacket
  
   $50.00

   Synergy: "The behavior of whole systems unpredicted by the behavior of their
   parts taken separately."
   Fuller is  largely responsible for the mainstreaming of this concept in our collective thought,
   by exploring it thoroughly, coining the term "synergetics," both finding it in and applying it to
   human nature and the universe, and describing it fully in this book. Using the geometric
   tetrahedral model as a frame of reference to simplify understanding of the physical universe,
   he incorporates the concept of the fourth dimension and explains the energetic relationships between events--not things--
   and espouses the practical applications of such a model.

   Considered by many to be his magnum opus, this work is a culmination of his lifelong philosophical exploration and
   his focus on universal laws of existence. Many of Fuller's hand-drawn geometric illustrations accompany the text.

   The book concludes with a 54-page contribution by Arthur Loeb which builds on Fuller's treatise.
 
    Click on book image for further information or to order.

 Grunch of Giants*                                                    [*Gross Universal Cash Heist]                                  
   R. Buckminster Fuller
   N.Y.: St. Martin's Press, 1983
   First Edition
   Fine in a fine dust jacket, a perfect copy

   $200.00

   
    "There is no dictionary word for an army of invisible giants . . . with their arms interlinked, girding the planet Earth. Since
   there exists just such an invisible, abstract, legal-contrivance army of giants, we have invented the word GRUNCH. . . .
   The grunch of giants consists of the corporately interlocked owners of a vast invisible empire, which includes airwaves and
   satellites; plus a vast visible empire, which includes all the . . . skyscraper cluster cities around thte world, as well as the
   factories and research laboratories. . . . It controls the financial credit system of the noncommunist world together with all
   the financial means of initiating any world-magnitude mass-production and -distribution ventures. . . . Whos runs GRUNCH?
   Nobody knows. It controls all the world's banks. Even the muted Swiss banks. . . . Its law firm is named Machiavelli,
   Machiavelli, Atoms & Oil. . . .  It is precoccupied with absolute selfishness and its guaranteed gratifications."
   Thus explains Fuller in Chapter 1.

   He also posits  that it is possible for all human beings to enjoy a sustainably higher standard of living by utilizing advanced
   technology while at the same time phasing out the use of fossil fuels and atomic energy.  The problem is that the GRUNCH of giants, the epitome of capitalistic
   selfishness, is fundamentally at odds with the unified and efficient technology he envisions as necessary to equitably sustain humanity.  Unless the generations-old
   presumption that there is an inherent inadequacy of life-support on Earth is recognized as a myth, the GRUNCH  will inevitably lead to a resounding world-wide
   economic crash. 

   This book, a sequel to "Critical Path," was one of Fuller's last achievements before his death, and as such it completes his expression of his ideas regarding global
   logistics, human geography, sustainability and human responsibility.  An important book, valuable both for its prescience as well as for being Fuller's last published book.
   Rather unusual in such nice condition.