What do you think?
Rate this book
SYNERGETICS Explorations in the Geometry of Thinking
Using an inspired combination of geometric logic and metaphors from familiar human experience, Bucky invites readers to join him on a trip through a four-dimensional Universe, where concepts as diverse as entropy, Einstein's relativity equations, and the meaning of existence become clear, understandable, and immediately involving.
Paperback
First published January 1, 1975
39 people are currently reading
1418 people want to read
About the author
R. Buckminster Fuller
131 books763 followersRichard Buckminster "Bucky" Fuller was an American architect, systems theorist, author, designer, and inventor.
Fuller published more than 30 books, coining or popularizing terms such as "Spaceship Earth", ephemeralization, and synergetic. He also developed numerous inventions, mainly architectural designs, and popularized the widely known geodesic dome. Carbon molecules known as fullerenes were later named by scientists for their structural and mathematical resemblance to geodesic spheres.
Buckminster Fuller was the second president of Mensa from 1974 to 1983.
Fuller published more than 30 books, coining or popularizing terms such as "Spaceship Earth", ephemeralization, and synergetic. He also developed numerous inventions, mainly architectural designs, and popularized the widely known geodesic dome. Carbon molecules known as fullerenes were later named by scientists for their structural and mathematical resemblance to geodesic spheres.
Buckminster Fuller was the second president of Mensa from 1974 to 1983.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
Read
February 10, 2017In short: only read Synergetics after reading an 'interpretation' of Bucky's ideas by other writers.
Synergetics is a book that is impossible to rate with a star-rating. So I won't.
This is a an 800 page condensation of Buckminster Fuller's 50-year investigations into geometry, mathematics, physics, and metaphysics. It is formatted like a textbook, with every paragraph assigned a categorisation number ("524.101", "524.11", etc).
The fact that the book is almost exclusively about physics and metaphysics makes it harder for the layperson to understand than some of Bucky's other books. By contrast, his other books are about his more practical, everyday-life inventions and philosophies. Be warned!
Bucky does little to extend an olive branch to his readers. His text is heavy with his unusual jargon, as well as paragraph-length sentences. By his own account, Bucky preferred to be not understood than misunderstood. Therefore, he would rather you re-read a sentence out of sheer necessity, rather than skim through and misunderstand his points.
Despite reading horror stories of the book being utterly incomprehensible, I managed to get a good sense of what Bucky describes in Synergetics. I achieved this mostly by forcing myself to focus on the words, rather than relying on Bucky to pave an easy path. Having a reasonable understanding of high school Physics also helped.
The other reason why I was able to understand the book is because I had read a 'plain-English primer' of Bucky's ideas via the great biography Buckminster Fuller's Universe: An Appreciation (1989), which remains the best book I have read about Bucky. This is the approach I recommend for other readers, in conjunction with the books A Fuller Explanation by Amy C. Edmondson and Bucky: A Guided Tour of Buckminster Fuller by Hugh Kenner.
Not being a mathematician, I am unable to verify the worthiness of the concepts described within this book. Bucky claims that it all fits within the parameters of conventional mathematics, though he emphasises a 60°, triangle-based coordinate system, rather than a 90°, square-based coordinate system. This flows into his philosophical conception of 'the geometry of thought', as described in the book.
By now you've already decided whether you want to read this book or not. For most people, reading books about Bucky will suffice. Others will be drawn to the magnetic allure of Synergetics through its reputation. As mentioned, I recommend reading only after being pre-primed by other writers' interpretations!
Side note: I was a little alarmed with how easily Bucky dismisses the concept of evolution. If he really disputes the Darwinian concept of simple organisms evolving into complex organisms, he really should have devoted more than a flimsy one-page dismissal to the topic. His arguments are easily demolished. I presume this oversight does not cloud the validity of the rest of his book...
Synergetics is a book that is impossible to rate with a star-rating. So I won't.
This is a an 800 page condensation of Buckminster Fuller's 50-year investigations into geometry, mathematics, physics, and metaphysics. It is formatted like a textbook, with every paragraph assigned a categorisation number ("524.101", "524.11", etc).
The fact that the book is almost exclusively about physics and metaphysics makes it harder for the layperson to understand than some of Bucky's other books. By contrast, his other books are about his more practical, everyday-life inventions and philosophies. Be warned!
Bucky does little to extend an olive branch to his readers. His text is heavy with his unusual jargon, as well as paragraph-length sentences. By his own account, Bucky preferred to be not understood than misunderstood. Therefore, he would rather you re-read a sentence out of sheer necessity, rather than skim through and misunderstand his points.
Despite reading horror stories of the book being utterly incomprehensible, I managed to get a good sense of what Bucky describes in Synergetics. I achieved this mostly by forcing myself to focus on the words, rather than relying on Bucky to pave an easy path. Having a reasonable understanding of high school Physics also helped.
The other reason why I was able to understand the book is because I had read a 'plain-English primer' of Bucky's ideas via the great biography Buckminster Fuller's Universe: An Appreciation (1989), which remains the best book I have read about Bucky. This is the approach I recommend for other readers, in conjunction with the books A Fuller Explanation by Amy C. Edmondson and Bucky: A Guided Tour of Buckminster Fuller by Hugh Kenner.
Not being a mathematician, I am unable to verify the worthiness of the concepts described within this book. Bucky claims that it all fits within the parameters of conventional mathematics, though he emphasises a 60°, triangle-based coordinate system, rather than a 90°, square-based coordinate system. This flows into his philosophical conception of 'the geometry of thought', as described in the book.
By now you've already decided whether you want to read this book or not. For most people, reading books about Bucky will suffice. Others will be drawn to the magnetic allure of Synergetics through its reputation. As mentioned, I recommend reading only after being pre-primed by other writers' interpretations!
Side note: I was a little alarmed with how easily Bucky dismisses the concept of evolution. If he really disputes the Darwinian concept of simple organisms evolving into complex organisms, he really should have devoted more than a flimsy one-page dismissal to the topic. His arguments are easily demolished. I presume this oversight does not cloud the validity of the rest of his book...
March 26, 2022
"Time has branded them and fettered they are lodged in the room of the infinite possibilities they have ousted. But can those have been possible seeing that they never were? Or was that only possible which came to pass? Weave, weaver of the wind."-James Joyce
Welcome to the masterpiece of Bucky the weaver. Its full of insightful brilliance, madness, and a lot of bullshit. Hence, difficult to rate but I gave bonus points for weirdness and uniqueness.
Buckminster Fuller said once that he was 'blessed' with very weak eyesight early in childhood that enabled him to 'see' things differently so that among other things he relied on his sense of touch primarily to form his particular perspective. Whatever the reason for his idiosyncrasy he always has something extraordinary and extravagant to say about everything. And he is flipping in and out of everything linking one thing to another and seldom in a linear sequence so you're not going to get much in a single read.
I never trust reading interpretations by other authors so let me suggest a strategy: Read the first three sections (up to Universe) and the last (Numerology) plus the intro and then reread them until you get a gross idea of where he is coming from. Then perhaps foray into other sections. I have, as I mentioned, never really finished this book because I keep getting distracted into other things but these sections have instilled in me a strange curiosity that makes me keep coming back.
Do read the moral of the book here:
http://www.rwgrayprojects.com/synerge...
Welcome to the masterpiece of Bucky the weaver. Its full of insightful brilliance, madness, and a lot of bullshit. Hence, difficult to rate but I gave bonus points for weirdness and uniqueness.
Buckminster Fuller said once that he was 'blessed' with very weak eyesight early in childhood that enabled him to 'see' things differently so that among other things he relied on his sense of touch primarily to form his particular perspective. Whatever the reason for his idiosyncrasy he always has something extraordinary and extravagant to say about everything. And he is flipping in and out of everything linking one thing to another and seldom in a linear sequence so you're not going to get much in a single read.
I never trust reading interpretations by other authors so let me suggest a strategy: Read the first three sections (up to Universe) and the last (Numerology) plus the intro and then reread them until you get a gross idea of where he is coming from. Then perhaps foray into other sections. I have, as I mentioned, never really finished this book because I keep getting distracted into other things but these sections have instilled in me a strange curiosity that makes me keep coming back.
Do read the moral of the book here:
http://www.rwgrayprojects.com/synerge...
November 6, 2017
Polyhedra have several interesting properties, and even more uninteresting ones.
The structural aspects of networks of polyhedra are an imperfect analogy for the structural aspects of physical law. Certain universal principles (dimensionality, principal of least action, symmetries implying conservation laws) are briefly developed but give much more space to the lunatic ramblings of Fuller.
The structural aspects of networks of polyhedra are an imperfect analogy for the structural aspects of physical law. Certain universal principles (dimensionality, principal of least action, symmetries implying conservation laws) are briefly developed but give much more space to the lunatic ramblings of Fuller.
March 9, 2019
I cant say that I read this book from front to back. This book is not like that. I read it here and there and everywhere. It’s quite a challenge and I would say a lot of it went over my head. But I felt opened up somehow and wiser for it.
Read
August 8, 2020An intense and deep dive into the visceral thought processes Buckminster Fuller used to bring us his approach to invention and problem solving, from the man who invented the word "synergy".
Not at all a light read, but this, "Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth" and his magnum opus "Critical Path" are worth reading.
Not at all a light read, but this, "Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth" and his magnum opus "Critical Path" are worth reading.
February 19, 2019
loved the mathematical approach. I value my signed copy.
July 19, 2020
Too many words. Not enough pictures or equations for a book about geometry
Currently reading
July 26, 2024This is a very important high concept book. It's a must read. Using an inspired combination of geometric logic and metaphors from familiar human experience, Bucky invites readers to join him on a trip through a four-dimensional Universe, where concepts as diverse as entropy, Einstein's relativity equations, and the meaning of existence become clear, understandable, and immediately involving. In his own words: "Dare to be naive... It is one of our most exciting discoveries that local discovery leads to a complex of further discoveries."
March 9, 2009
A thoroughly bizarre and bizarrely thorough examination of science and its relationship to the metaphysics. One cannot tell where Fuller lies between brilliance and madness, but his ideas are definitely thought-provoking and his passion can be infectious.
March 15, 2015
Incredibly technical, and i assume even most mathematicians would say that it is abstract. In this book, Bucky defines his vision in a very precise way. Definitely not an easy read, but THE book to read for any serious students of the Master himself.
June 19, 2015
This book challenges your thinking from the scope of the universe to the mathematical realm of geometrical analysis. Mathematics can be quite fun if the right apparatus are in place. Geo-palatial intensity is an all time high.
Currently reading
November 22, 2008May never finish it. But a great book
October 1, 2010
Difficult to read and visualize, been reading this for maybe 10 years to get this far...but seems worth it, always interesting.
to-read-if
October 29, 2011Stephen R. Covey quotes from this book on page 14 of his new book, the 3rd Alternative.
August 4, 2020
Greatest companion math book every written.
October 6, 2016
the most profound book I have ever read
December 16, 2018
Ian you have got to read this"!" AlienAPI
August 4, 2013
Tough sledding through the details of Bucky's theories.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews