This new R. Buckminster Fuller stamp is so cool looking that I’ll stop paying bills online and go back to checks just so I can use it. It reminds me of a early 60s “new wave” science fiction book cover. The Register has a nice summation of Fuller’s influence.
Fuller’s actual inventions come secondary to his reputation as a popular, homespun philosopher of science. At times vilified as a fruitcake and a show-off, he later taught to appreciative audiences and represented the United States delegation in meetings with top Soviet scientists. (This was before the days of Air Miles). Although it’s true that Fuller’s reputation has never quite shaken off the hucksterism, and at times his writing reads like a very bad weblog, this was an extraordinary achievement. Fuller was a more profound critic of contemporary capitalism than any of the communists he can have met.
That’s because Fuller came to represent – much to the horror of his peers – the creativity and imagination that we like to think propels scientists at their best. And these are qualities we look for in vain from popular scientists and “futurologists” today.