Richard Buckminster Fuller was an American architect, systems theorist, author, designer, inventor, and futurist.
R. Buckminster Fuller was a renowned 20th century inventor and visionary born in Milton, Massachusetts on July 12, 1895. Dedicating his life to making the world work for all of humanity, Fuller operated as a practical philosopher who demonstrated his ideas as inventions that he called “artifacts.” Fuller did not limit himself to one field but worked as a ‘comprehensive anticipatory design scientist’ to solve global problems surrounding housing, shelter, transportation, education, energy, ecological destruction, and poverty. Throughout the course of his life Fuller held 28 patents, authored 28 books, received 47 honorary degrees. And while his most well know artifact, the geodesic dome, has been produced over 300,000 times worldwide, Fuller’s true impact on the world today can be found in his continued influence upon generations of designers, architects, scientists and artists working to create a more sustainable planet.
Buckminster Fuller spent his life working across multiple fields, such as architecture, design, geometry, engineering, science, cartography and education, in his pursuit to make the world work for 100% of humanity
He styled his name as R. Buckminster Fuller published more than 30 books and coining or popularizing such terms as “Spaceship Earth”, “Dymaxion” (e.g., Dymaxion house, Dymaxion car, “ephemeralization”, “synergetics”, and “tensegrity”.
Fuller developed numerous inventions, mainly architectural designs. He also served as the second World President of Mensa International from 1974 to 1983.

Fuller was the son of Richard Buckminster Fuller and Caroline Wolcott Andrews.. As a child, Richard Buckminster Fuller tried numerous variations of his name. He finally settled on R. Buckminster Fuller He attended Froebelian KindergartenHe disagreed with the way geometry was taught in school. He experimented with designing a new apparatus for human propulsion of small boats. By age 12, he had invented a ‘push pull’ system for propelling a rowboat by use of an inverted umbrella connected to the transom with a simple oar lock which allowed the user to face forward to point the boat toward its destination. Later in life, Fuller earned a machinist’s certification, and knew how to use the press brake, stretch press, and other tools and equipment used in the sheet metal trade. Fuller attended Milton Academy in Massachusetts, and after that began studying at Harvard College, where he was affiliated with Adams House. He was expelled from Harvard twice: first for spending all his money partying with a vaudeville troupe, and then, after having been readmitted, for his “irresponsibility and lack of interest”.
In 1917 he along with his father-in-law, Monroe Hewlette, an architect, invented a modular construction system using compressed fibre blocks that led to the establishment of a construction company.
The construction company encountered financial difficulties in 1927, and Fuller, a minority stockholder, was forced out. He found himself stranded in Chicago, without income, alienated, dismayed, confused. Anyhow, he started focusing on a number of designs. Fuller also invented a wide range of other paradigm-shifting machines and structural systems.
Hailed as “one of the greatest minds of our times,” R. Buckminster Fuller was renowned for his comprehensive perspective on the world’s problems, pioneering solutions that reflected the potential of innovative design to create technology that does “more with less”.