Critical Path (book)
Encyclopedia
Critical Path is a book written by US author and inventor R. Buckminster Fuller with the assistance of Kiyoshi Kuromiya
. First published in 1981, it is alongside Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth
one of Fuller's best-known works. Vast in its scope, it describes Fuller's own vision of the development of human civilization
, economic history
, and his highly original economic ideology
based, amongst other things, on his detailed description of why scarcity
of resources need no longer be a decisive factor in global politics
.
began in the atolls of the South Pacific
, where the average sea temperature is closest to that of the human body (p.6). Rather than evolving
from simpler organisms, humanity was of extraterrestrial origin and other organisms evolved from us (p.7). From this base, humanity developed boat-building in Southeast Asia
and colonised the rest of the planet (p.15). There is evidence that the Bronze Age
began in Southeast Asia (p.17). Fuller's Dymaxion World Map
is used to show the distribution of humanity over the Earth's surface. Over half the population lives in the regions watered by the Himalayan glaciers (p.20).
is central to our understanding of ecology (p.34). This knowledge probably originated in prehistoric times, was certainly known to the Ancient Greeks, but was then suppressed for centuries by organised religion because it was incompatible with the official story of a Heaven
above and a Hell
below (p.43). There has been an evolution of religious ideas from those of the Egyptian pyramid-builders, whose ambition was to deliver a single individual, the pharaoh
, into the afterlife, to the modern belief that everybody has a right to enjoy life on Earth (p.51).
s were the first institutions to make organised use of extortion (p.68). This was then followed by the growth of international trade
, which appropriates the wealth of the planet for its own ends. Corruption in the form of "lawyer-capitalism" has led the U.S.A. to become effectively bankrupt (p.114). Government subsidies given to corporations amount to socialism
(p.101).
", is intended to show how much a single human being with little money can do to influence world affairs (p.128). The mechanical principle of precession
is used as a metaphor for the ability of a person to influence the world by applying pressure in an unconventional direction (p.144). Fuller's religious beliefs are explained (p.151).
was the heartland of the Cold War
world, as it gave the USSR the potential of a route through Iran
to the Indian Ocean
(p.194).
is a simulation of global economic activity. Computers can be used to calculate the optimal answer to any economic, technological or social question. The computers will tell us that the true cost to the environment of using fossil fuels is prohibitive, and renewable energy should be used instead. The true energy cost of a gallon of gasoline is more than one million (1980) US dollars. The amount of scrap metals in circulation means that no more mining is necessary (p.205). A global electrical supply grid will enable more efficient use of energy, and make intermittent renewable energy more practical (p.202).
of two million tasks, one million of which required new technological solutions (p.248). Fuller has applied a similar project-planning approach to the saving of humanity, and has created a list of critical-path items (p.248).
In Los Angeles, private-incerator and later car-pollution laws were passed to shift the blame for smog from industry to citizens (p.279).
In 1929 the USSR used its gold wealth relative to the USA's poverty to pay USA industry to set up industries in USSR, in USSR's first three 5-year plans (p.289).
, East St. Louis (p.315); Raleigh cotton mill (p.325); Growth House - sustainable greenhouse (p.329); O-Volving shelves (p.331); tetrahedral floating city (p.333); Cloud Nines - spherical floating cities (p.336); 8,000-foot Tokyo Tower (p.338); containerised passenger air travel (p.340).
Kiyoshi Kuromiya
Kiyoshi Kuromiya was an author and civil and social justice advocate. He was born in a Japanese American internment camp on May 9, 1943 in Heart Mountain, Wyoming...
. First published in 1981, it is alongside Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth
Operating manual for Spaceship Earth
Operating Manual For Spaceship Earth is a short book by R. Buckminster Fuller, first published in 1968, following an address with a similar title given to the 50th annual convention of the American Planners Association in the Shoreham Hotel, Washington D.C., on 16 October 1967...
one of Fuller's best-known works. Vast in its scope, it describes Fuller's own vision of the development of human civilization
Civilization
Civilization is a sometimes controversial term that has been used in several related ways. Primarily, the term has been used to refer to the material and instrumental side of human cultures that are complex in terms of technology, science, and division of labor. Such civilizations are generally...
, economic history
Economic history
Economic history is the study of economies or economic phenomena in the past. Analysis in economic history is undertaken using a combination of historical methods, statistical methods and by applying economic theory to historical situations and institutions...
, and his highly original economic ideology
Economic ideology
An economic ideology distinguishes itself from economic theory in being normative rather than just explanatory in its approach. It expresses a perspective on the way an economy should be run and to what end, whereas the aim of economic theories is to create accurate explanatory models...
based, amongst other things, on his detailed description of why scarcity
Scarcity
Scarcity is the fundamental economic problem of having humans who have unlimited wants and needs in a world of limited resources. It states that society has insufficient productive resources to fulfill all human wants and needs. Alternatively, scarcity implies that not all of society's goals can be...
of resources need no longer be a decisive factor in global politics
Global politics
Global politics is the discipline that studies the political and economical patterns of the world. It studies the relationships between cities, nation-states, shell-states, multinational corporations, non-governmental organizations and international organizations.It has been argued that global...
.
Overview
The following is a list of the main claims and opinions presented in the book, reported without discussion or criticism.Part One
The first part of the book explains the history and present state of the global economy.Chapter 1 - Speculative Prehistory of Humanity
Human lifeHuman life
Human life may refer to*in medicine or statistics, the human lifespan*in sociology, the everyday personal life*in philosophy**the conditio humana**discussion of the meaning of life*in jurisprudence, a value protected by human rights...
began in the atolls of the South Pacific
Oceania
Oceania is a region centered on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. Conceptions of what constitutes Oceania range from the coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific to the entire insular region between Asia and the Americas, including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago...
, where the average sea temperature is closest to that of the human body (p.6). Rather than evolving
Evolution
Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
from simpler organisms, humanity was of extraterrestrial origin and other organisms evolved from us (p.7). From this base, humanity developed boat-building in Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
and colonised the rest of the planet (p.15). There is evidence that the Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
began in Southeast Asia (p.17). Fuller's Dymaxion World Map
Dymaxion map
The Dymaxion map or Fuller map is a projection of a world map onto the surface of a polyhedron, which can be unfolded and flattened to two dimensions. The projection depicts the earth's continents as "one island," or nearly contiguous land masses. The arrangement heavily interrupts the map in order...
is used to show the distribution of humanity over the Earth's surface. Over half the population lives in the regions watered by the Himalayan glaciers (p.20).
Chapter 2 - Humans in Universe
Our knowledge of the spherical shape of the EarthSpherical Earth
The concept of a spherical Earth dates back to ancient Greek philosophy from around the 6th century BC, but remained a matter of philosophical speculation until the 3rd century BC when Hellenistic astronomy established the spherical shape of the earth as a physical given...
is central to our understanding of ecology (p.34). This knowledge probably originated in prehistoric times, was certainly known to the Ancient Greeks, but was then suppressed for centuries by organised religion because it was incompatible with the official story of a Heaven
Heaven
Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...
above and a Hell
Hell
In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
below (p.43). There has been an evolution of religious ideas from those of the Egyptian pyramid-builders, whose ambition was to deliver a single individual, the pharaoh
Pharaoh
Pharaoh is a title used in many modern discussions of the ancient Egyptian rulers of all periods. The title originates in the term "pr-aa" which means "great house" and describes the royal palace...
, into the afterlife, to the modern belief that everybody has a right to enjoy life on Earth (p.51).
Chapter 3 - Legally Piggily
Human history has been shaped by the continual growth and success of greed. City-stateCity-state
A city-state is an independent or autonomous entity whose territory consists of a city which is not administered as a part of another local government.-Historical city-states:...
s were the first institutions to make organised use of extortion (p.68). This was then followed by the growth of international trade
International trade
International trade is the exchange of capital, goods, and services across international borders or territories. In most countries, such trade represents a significant share of gross domestic product...
, which appropriates the wealth of the planet for its own ends. Corruption in the form of "lawyer-capitalism" has led the U.S.A. to become effectively bankrupt (p.114). Government subsidies given to corporations amount to socialism
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
(p.101).
Chapter 4 - Self-Disciplines of Buckminster Fuller
Fuller's diary, the "ChronofileDymaxion Chronofile
The Dymaxion Chronofile is Buckminster Fuller's attempt to document his life as completely as possible. He created a very large scrapbook in which he documented his life every 15 minutes from 1920 to 1983. The scrapbook contains copies of all correspondence, bills, notes, sketches, and clippings...
", is intended to show how much a single human being with little money can do to influence world affairs (p.128). The mechanical principle of precession
Precession
Precession is a change in the orientation of the rotation axis of a rotating body. It can be defined as a change in direction of the rotation axis in which the second Euler angle is constant...
is used as a metaphor for the ability of a person to influence the world by applying pressure in an unconventional direction (p.144). Fuller's religious beliefs are explained (p.151).
Chapter 5 - The Geoscope
The Geoscope is a large-scale, animated globe of the Earth intended to help people visualise the spatial and temporal patterns of human activity, either in real time or replayed at different speeds. If the human mind is presented with all of this information at once, it should be able to use its visual pattern-detecting abilities to solve complex problems such as weather-forecasting, resource conflicts, and wars (p.183). Data for the Geoscope can come from the world maps produced by the USA, using radio triangulation, during and after World War II (p.184). Geodesic domes will be built to enclose entire cities (p.179). AfghanistanAfghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
was the heartland of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
world, as it gave the USSR the potential of a route through Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
to the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
(p.194).
Chapter 6 - World Game
The World GameWorld Game
World Game, sometimes called the World Peace Game, is an alternative to war games. The playing of World Game was an idea proposed by Buckminster Fuller...
is a simulation of global economic activity. Computers can be used to calculate the optimal answer to any economic, technological or social question. The computers will tell us that the true cost to the environment of using fossil fuels is prohibitive, and renewable energy should be used instead. The true energy cost of a gallon of gasoline is more than one million (1980) US dollars. The amount of scrap metals in circulation means that no more mining is necessary (p.205). A global electrical supply grid will enable more efficient use of energy, and make intermittent renewable energy more practical (p.202).
Part Two
This part of the book explains Fuller's plan to set humanity on the path to a sustainable existence with no need to fight over resources.Chapter 7 - Critical Path: Part One
Education is key to improving humanity's living conditions (p.232). The USSR tried to destabilise the US education system by inciting its students to riot (p.236). The Apollo Project had a critical pathCritical Path
Critical Path may refer to:*The Critical Path, the longest necessary path through a network of activities when respecting their interdependencies, which may be identified with the Program Evaluation and Review Technique and the Critical path method...
of two million tasks, one million of which required new technological solutions (p.248). Fuller has applied a similar project-planning approach to the saving of humanity, and has created a list of critical-path items (p.248).
Chapter 8 - Critical Path: Part Two
Unlike the Apollo Project, the critical-path items in the project to save humanity can all be accomplished with existing technologies (p.253). A global video education system must be developed (p.265).Chapter 9 - Critical Path: Part Three
Corn is wasted in generating unnecessarily fatty but more profitable beef (p.272).In Los Angeles, private-incerator and later car-pollution laws were passed to shift the blame for smog from industry to citizens (p.279).
In 1929 the USSR used its gold wealth relative to the USA's poverty to pay USA industry to set up industries in USSR, in USSR's first three 5-year plans (p.289).
Chapter 10 - Critical Path: Part Four
The first task in humanity's critical path is to build a global electricity grid (p.309). The second task is to provide movable dwellings for all - city-sized and family-sized domes (p.310). Fuller has the following designs ready for production: the Fly's Eye dome (p.311); Old Man River's City projectOld Man River's City project
The Old Man River's City project was an architectural design created by Buckminster Fuller in 1971. Fuller was asked to design the structure from the city of East St. Louis. Old Man's River City would have been a truly massive housing project for the city's 70,000 residents. The total capacity of...
, East St. Louis (p.315); Raleigh cotton mill (p.325); Growth House - sustainable greenhouse (p.329); O-Volving shelves (p.331); tetrahedral floating city (p.333); Cloud Nines - spherical floating cities (p.336); 8,000-foot Tokyo Tower (p.338); containerised passenger air travel (p.340).
Appendices
- Appendix I - Chronology of Scientific Discoveries and Artifacts
- Appendix II - Chronological Inventory of Prominent Scientific, Technological, Economic, and Political World Events: 1895 to Date
Concepts
- Critical pathCritical PathCritical Path may refer to:*The Critical Path, the longest necessary path through a network of activities when respecting their interdependencies, which may be identified with the Program Evaluation and Review Technique and the Critical path method...
. The title of the book is a term used in project planningProject planningProject planning is part of project management, which relates to the use of schedules such as Gantt charts to plan and subsequently report progress within the project environment....
. To estimate the completion date of a project, a chart is drawn showing all of the necessary sub-tasks and their durations, placed in chronological order. The last task cannot begin until all of tasks on which it depends have been completed. These tasks depend, in turn, on other tasks. It is usually possible to draw numerous paths through the chart from beginning to end, but it is the longest path, called the critical path, that determines the time that the project will take to complete. The book refers frequently to the Apollo Project, which was planned using this method. Fuller's plan to reorganise the global economy in a sustainable way also has a critical path, which is identified in the book. - Spaceship EarthSpaceship EarthSpaceship Earth is a world view term usually expressing concern over the use of limited resources available on Earth and the behavior of everyone on it to act as a harmonious crew working toward the greater good....
. The Earth's material resources, like those of a spaceship, are finite. The book explains that early humans did not understand this, because the Earth seemed like a boundless flat surface. We now know that the Earth is a sphere, and this fact should inform all of our decisions. - Personal integrity. Critical Path is part manifesto, part autobiography. Fuller admits in one place that this is "egostistical" (p.378), but excuses this by saying that he wants to show not just his conclusions, but also the thought processes that led to them. He believes that every person must think for himself and take as little as possible on trust (p.xi).