A Fuller Explanation: The Synergetic Geometry of R. Buckminster Fuller (Design Science Collection)

In a broad sense Design Science is the grammar of a language of images rather than of words. Modern communication techniques enable us to transmit and reconstitute images without the need of knowing a specific verbal sequential language such as the Morse code or Hungarian. International traffic signs use international image symbols which are not specific to any particular verbal language. An image language differs from a verbal one in that the latter uses a linear string of symbols, whereas the former is multidimensional. Architectural renderings commonly show projections onto three mutually perpendicular planes, or consist of cross sections at differ­ ent altitudes representing a stack of floor plans. Such renderings make it difficult to imagine buildings containing ramps and other features which disguise the separation between floors; consequently, they limit the creativity of the architect. Analogously, we tend to analyze natural structures as if nature had used similar stacked renderings, rather than, for instance, a system of packed spheres, with the result that we fail to perceive the system of organization determining the form of such structures. Front Matter....Pages i-xxvi Return to Modelability....Pages 1-14 The Irrationality of Pi....Pages 15-24 Systems and Synergy....Pages 25-35 Tools of the Trade....Pages 36-53 Structure and “Pattern Integrity”....Pages 54-64 Angular Topology....Pages 65-81 Vector Equilibrium....Pages 82-99 Tales Told by the Spheres: Closest Packing....Pages 100-126 Isotropic Vector Matrix....Pages 127-142 Multiplication by Division: In Search of Cosmic Hierarchy....Pages 143-158 Jitterbug....Pages 159-174 “All-Space” Filling: New Types of Packing Crates....Pages 175-188 The Heart of the Matter: A- and B-Quanta Modules....Pages 189-205 Cosmic Railroad Tracks: Great Circles....Pages 206-231 From Geodesic to Tensegrity: The Invisible Made Visible....Pages 232-257 “Design Science”....Pages 258-269 Back Matter....Pages 271-302 Edmondson clarifies Buckminster Fuller's synergetic geometry in conventional language and mathematics and illuminates his effort to employ synergetics as a strategy for human survival. Updated author Preface and new Foreword by J. Baldwin.