ANNCR:
PEOPLE IN AMERICA — A PROGRAM IN SPECIAL ENGLISH BY THE VOICE OFAMERICA.
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EVERY WEEK AT THIS TIME, WE TELL THE STORY OF SOMEONE IMPORTANTIN THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. TODAY, HARRY MONROE AND KAYGALLANT TELL ABOUT AN UNUSUAL MAN, RICHARD BUCKMINSTER FULLER.
VOICE ONE:
BUILDING DESIGNER. ENGINEER. INVENTOR. THINKER. POET. NOT FIVEPEOPLE. JUST ONE: RICHARD BUCKMINSTER FULLER. “BUCKY” FULLER, AS HEWAS KNOWN, WAS ONE OF THE UNUSUAL THINKERS OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY.HIS AIM IN LIFE WAS TO MAKE THE HUMAN RACE A SUCCESS IN THEUNIVERSE.
BUCKY FULLER SPENT MOST OF HIS LIFE SEARCHING FOR NEW IDEAS. HEALSO SEARCHED FOR UNUSUAL CONNECTIONS BETWEEN EXISTING IDEAS. HEDESCRIBED HIMSELF IN THESE WORDS: “A COMPLETE, FUTURE-THINKINGDESIGN-SCIENCE EXPLORER.”
FULLER BELIEVED DEEPLY IN TECHNOLOGY. THROUGH TECHNOLOGY, HESAID, PEOPLE CAN DO ANYTHING THEY NEED TO DO.
VOICE TWO :
R. BUCKMINSTER FULLER DIED IN NINETEEN-EIGHTY-THREE AT THE AGE OFEIGHTY-SEVEN. DURING HIS LONG LIFE, HE DISCUSSED HIS IDEA ABOUTTECHNOLOGY AND HUMAN SURVIVAL. HE CALLED HIS IDEA “DYMAXION.” ITCAME FROM THREE WORDS. DYNAMIC, MEANING A FORCE. MAXIMUM, MEANINGTHE MOST. AND ION, WHICH IS AN ATOM OR GROUP OF ATOMS WITH ANELECTRICAL CHARGE.
FULLER EXPLAINED THE WORD DYMAXION AS A METHOD OF DOING MORE WITHLESS. EVERYTHING HE DID WAS GUIDED BY THIS IDEA. HE DESIGNED ADYMAXION CAR, A DYMAXION HOUSE, AND A DYMAXION MAP OF THE WORLD.
BUT HE PROBABLY IS KNOWN BEST FOR ANOTHER INVENTION — THEGEODESIC DOME. A GEODESIC DOME IS A ROUND BUILDING MADE OF MANYSTRAIGHT-SIDED PIECES.
TALKING ABOUT R. BUCKMINSTER FULLER MEANS USING STRANGE WORDS.THIS IS BECAUSE FULLER HIMSELF INVENTED WORDS TO DESCRIBE HIS IDEASAND DESIGNS. HIS DESIGNS WERE WAY AHEAD OF HIS TIME. THEY STILL ARE.
VOICE ONE:
R. BUCKMINSTER FULLER WAS BORN IN MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS, INEIGHTEEN-NINETY-FIVE. BUCKY COULD NOT SEE CLEARLY, BECAUSE HIS EYESDID NOT POINT STRAIGHT AHEAD. SO, HIS WORLD WAS FILLED WITH MASSESOF COLOR WITHOUT CLEAR SHAPES.
WHEN HE WAS FOUR YEARS OLD, HE GOT EYEGLASSES TO CORRECT THEPROBLEM. SUDDENLY, HE COULD SEE THE SHAPES OF PEOPLE’S FACES. HECOULD SEE STARS IN THE SKY AND LEAVES ON THE TREES. HE NEVER LOSTHIS JOY AT THE BEAUTY HE DISCOVERED IN THE WORLD.
AS A CHILD, BUCKY FULLER QUESTIONED EVERYTHING. HE WAS A VERYINDEPENDENT THINKER AT AN EARLY AGE.
HIS REFUSAL TO ACCEPT OTHERS’ IDEAS AND RULES CONTINUED AS HEGREW OLDER. ONE RESULT WAS THAT HE NEVER COMPLETED HIS UNIVERSITYSTUDIES. HE WAS EXPELLED TWO SEPARATE TIMES FROM HARVARD UNIVERSITYIN MASSACHUSETTS. HE THOUGHT HIS TIME WAS BETTER SPENT HAVING FUNTHAN STUDYING.
YET BUCKY FULLER WAS VERY SERIOUS ABOUT LEARNING. HE PROVED THISWHEN HE JOINED THE AMERICAN NAVY DURING WORLD WAR ONE.
VOICE TWO:
IN THE NAVY, HE LEARNED ALL ABOUT NAVIGATION, MATHEMATICS,MECHANICS, COMMUNICATIONS AND ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING. HE LOVED THISWORLD OF MODERN TECHNOLOGY. SOON AFTER HE JOINED THE NAVY, HEDESIGNED NEW RESCUE EQUIPMENT. IT HELPED SAVE THE LIVES OF SOMEPILOTS DURING TRAINING.
FULLER’S GOOD NAVY RECORD WON HIM A SHORT-TERM APPOINTMENT TO THEUNITED STATES NAVAL ACADEMY IN ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND. IT WAS THERE HEFIRST DEVELOPED TWO IDEAS THAT WERE IMPORTANT FOR THE REST OF HISLIFE.
WHILE STUDYING WARSHIPS, FULLER REALIZED THAT THEY WEIGHED MUCHLESS THAN BUILDINGS, YET WERE ABLE TO DO MUCH MORE. HE DECIDEDBETTER DESIGNS COULD HELP HUMANS DO MORE, USING FEWER MATERIALS.
VOICE ONE:
IN NINETEEN-SEVENTEEN, BUCKY FULLER MARRIED ANNE HEWLETT. THEIRDAUGHTER, ALEXANDRA, WAS BORN ABOUT A YEAR LATER. BUCKY WAS A VERYEMOTIONAL MAN, AS WELL AS AN INTELLECTUAL ONE. HE LOVED HIS LITTLEDAUGHTER. SHE WAS THE WONDER OF HIS WORLD. THEN ALEXANDRA BECAMEVERY SICK. THE MEDICINE TO CURE HER HAD NOT BEEN INVENTED YET. SHEDIED AT THE AGE OF FOUR.
BUCKY FULLER BLAMED HIMSELF, ALTHOUGH HE HAD DONE EVERYTHING HECOULD TO SAVE HER. HIS SORROW OVERCAME HIM. HE BEGAN TO DRINK TOOMUCH ALCOHOL. YET HE CONTINUED TO WORK HARD.
FULLER WAS HEAD OF A COMPANY THAT MADE A LIGHT-WEIGHT BUILDINGMATERIAL. HE WAS NOT A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESSMAN, HOWEVER. AND THECOMPANY BEGAN TO FAIL. HE WAS DISMISSED BY THE OWNERS.
IT WAS NINETEEN-TWENTY-SEVEN. HIS WIFE HAD JUST GIVEN BIRTH TOANOTHER BABY GIRL. THEY WERE LIVING IN CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. HE HAD NOJOB AND NO MONEY. HE FELT HE WAS A COMPLETE FAILURE.
VOICE TWO:
BUCKY FULLER WALKED THROUGH THE STREETS OF CHICAGO ALONG LAKEMICHIGAN. HE STOOD SILENTLY ON THE SHORE. HE CONSIDERED KILLINGHIMSELF. THEN, AS HE EXPLAINED LATER, HE REALIZED HE DID NOT HAVETHE RIGHT TO KILL HIMSELF. HE SAID HE HAD FELT SOMETHING INSIDE HIMTHAT DAY. HE CALLED IT THE GREATER INTELLIGENCE OR GOD. IT TOLD HIMHE BELONGED TO THE UNIVERSE.
SO BUCKY FULLER DECIDED TO LIVE. AND HE WOULD LIVE THE WAY HETHOUGHT BEST. HE PROMISED TO SPEND HIS REMAINING YEARS IN SEARCH OFDESIGNS THAT COULD MAKE HUMAN EXISTENCE ON EARTH EASIER. THIS BEGANHIS GREAT CREATIVE PERIOD.
VOICE ONE:
FULLER’S FIRST DESIGN WAS THE DYMAXION HOUSE. IT WAS NOT BUILT ATTHE PLACE IT WOULD STAND. IT WAS BUILT IN A FACTORY, THEN MOVED. ITDID NOT COST MUCH TO BUILD. AND IT DID NOT LOOK LIKE A TRADITIONALHOUSE IN AMERICA.
ITS ROOF HUNG FROM A HUGE STICK IN THE CENTER. ITS WALLS WEREMADE OF GLASS. IT CONTAINED EVERYTHING NEEDED FOR PEOPLE TO LIVE.POWER CAME FROM THE SUN. WATER WAS CLEANED AND RE-USED.
FULLER THEN DESIGNED AND BUILT THE DYMAXION CAR. IT LOOKED ALITTLE LIKE THE BODY OF AN AIRPLANE. IT HAD THREE WHEELS INSTEAD OFFOUR. IT COULD GO AS FAST AS ONE-HUNDRED-EIGHTY KILOMETERS AN HOUR.IT CARRIED UP TO TWELVE PASSENGERS.
SEVERAL COMPANIES WERE INTERESTED IN BUILDING AND SELLINGFULLER’S HOUSE AND CAR. BUT HIS DESIGNS WERE SO DIFFERENT, SOEXTREME, THAT BANKS WERE NOT WILLING TO LEND MONEY FOR THE PROJECTS.SO THE DYMAXION HOUSE — WHICH COULD HAVE PROVIDED LOW-COST HOUSINGFOR EVERYONE — WAS NEVER BUILT. AND THE DYMAXION CAR — WHICH COULDHAVE PROVIDED SAFE, POLLUTION-FREE TRANSPORTATION USING LITTLEGASOLINE — WAS NEVER PRODUCED.
VOICE TWO:
BUCKY FULLER DID NOT GIVE UP HIS IDEA OF DOING MORE WITH LESS. HEHAD AN IDEA FOR ANOTHER BUILDING DESIGN. IT WOULD PROVIDE THE MOSTSTRENGTH WITH THE LEAST AMOUNT OF MATERIAL. HE BEGAN LOOKING FOR THEPERFECT SHAPE.
FULLER FOUND IT IN NATURE. IT APPEARED IN THE SHAPES OF ORGANICCOMPOUNDS AND METALS. THE MAIN PART OF HIS DESIGN IS A FOUR-SIDEDPYRAMID. TO CREATE A BUILDING, MANY PYRAMIDS ARE CONNECTED TO EACHOTHER. THE CONNECTING PIECE HAS EIGHT SIDES. TOGETHER, THESE TWOSHAPES CREATE A VERY STRONG, LIGHT-WEIGHT ROUNDED STRUCTURE.
THE STRUCTURE CAN BE COVERED WITH ANY KIND OF MATERIAL. AND ITCAN STAND WITHOUT ANY SUPPORTS INSIDE. FULLER NAMED THIS STRUCTURETHE GEODESIC DOME. IT COVERS MORE SPACE WITH LESS MATERIAL THAN ANYOTHER BUILDING EVER DESIGNED.
VOICE ONE :
AFTER A NUMBER OF EXPERIMENTAL GEODESIC DOMES WERE BUILT,INDUSTRY BEGAN TO UNDERSTAND THE VALUE OF THE DESIGN. TODAY, THEREARE ABOUT ONE-HUNDRED-THOUSAND DIFFERENT LARGE AND SMALL GEODESICDOMES IN USE AROUND THE WORLD.
HOWEVER, NO ONE YET HAS ACTED ON ONE OF FULLER’S IDEAS FOR THEGEODESIC DOME. THERE ARE NO LIMITS TO THE SIZE OF A GEODESIC DOME.SO FULLER PROPOSED USING THEM OVER CITIES. OR OVER TERRITORIES WITHSEVERE WEATHER. A GEODESIC DOME THAT SIZE WOULD MAKE IT POSSIBLE TOHAVE COMPLETE CONTROL OVER THE THE ENVIRONMENT INSIDE IT.
VOICE TWO:
MOST OF BUCKY FULLER’S INVENTIONS DID NOT EARN HIM MUCH MONEY. ALOT OF WHAT HE DID EARN HE SPENT TRAVELLING AROUND THE WORLD. HETOLD ANYONE WHO WOULD LISTEN ABOUT HIS IDEAS FOR HUMAN LIFE ON THISPLANET. HE CALLED THE PLANET “SPACESHIP EARTH.”
HUMANS, HE SAID, ARE ASTRONAUTS ON SPACESHIP EARTH. THEY ARETRAVELLING ONE-HUNDRED-THOUSAND KILOMETERS AN HOUR AROUND THE SUN.HE SAID THE EARTH IS LIKE A LARGE MECHANICAL DEVICE THAT WILLSURVIVE ONLY IF PEOPLE LIVING ON IT KNOW HOW TO OPERATE ITCORRECTLY.
PEOPLE MUST LIVE ON EARTH JUST AS ASTRONAUTS LIVE IN A SPACESHIP.THEY MUST USE THEIR SUPPLIES WISELY, AND RE-USE THEM. HUMANS AREABLE, SAID BUCKMINSTER FULLER, THROUGH PLANNING AND WISE USE OFNATURAL SUPPLIES TO FEED AND HOUSE THEMSELVES, FOREVER.
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ANNCR:
THIS VOA SPECIAL ENGLISH PROGRAM, PEOPLE IN AMERICA, WAS WRITTENBY MARILYN RICE CHRISTIANO. YOUR NARRATORS WERE HARRY MONROE AND KAYGALLANT. I’M SHIRLEY GRIFFITH.