Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
R. Buckminster Fuller was renowned for asking people if they would like to be an astronaut. His
response to the would-be space traveller was to tell them that they were already astronauts. In 1968,
R. Buckminster Fuller published the now famous topic Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth. The
notion of a spaceship-like Earth travelling alone through the voids of space had entered the popular
imagination following the circulation of the first images of Earth taken from space in the 1960s. For
Fuller, the metaphor of Spaceship Earth was a useful way of conveying both the finite resources
that humanity had at its disposal, and the crucial role of environmental maintenance in ensuring
the ongoing wellbeing of our shared home. According to Fuller, just as a space capsule had to be
carefully monitored and regulated to ensure that it could support the lives of the astronauts who
were on board, so too did our planetary system require management to ensure humanity's survival.
R. Buckminster Fuller saw his ideas celebrated at Disney's EPCOT (Experimental Prototype
Community of Tomorrow) theme park. He was consulted on the design of its Spaceship Earth
attraction (see below), which actually employs the principles he patented for the construction of
geodesic domes. Fuller developed geodesic dome structures in order to replicate key natural design
principles.
Source: Wikimedia Creative Commons
