''Critical Path'' is a book written by US author and inventor R. Buckminster Fuller with the assistance of

Kiyoshi Kuromiya Kiyoshi Kuromiya (, May 9, 1943 – May 10, 2000) was a Japanese-American author and civil rights, anti-war, gay liberation, and HIV/AIDS activist. Born in Wyoming at the World War II–era Japanese American internment camp known as Heart Mo ...

. 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 A civilization (also spelled civilisation in British English) is any complex society characterized by the development of state (polity), the state, social stratification, urban area, urbanization, and symbolic systems of communication beyon ...

economic history Economic history is the study of history using methodological tools from economics or with a special attention to economic phenomena. Research is conducted using a combination of historical methods, statistical methods and the Applied economics ...

, and his highly original

economic ideology An economic ideology is a set of views forming the basis of an ideology on how the economy should run. It differentiates itself from economic theory in being Normative economics, normative rather than just explanatory in its approach, whereas the ...

based, amongst other things, on his detailed description of why

scarcity In economics, scarcity "refers to the basic fact of life that there exists only a finite amount of human and nonhuman resources which the best technical knowledge is capable of using to produce only limited maximum amounts of each economic good. ...

of resources need no longer be a decisive factor in

global politics Global politics, also known as world politics, names both the discipline that studies the political and economic patterns of the world and the field that is being studied. At the centre of that field are the different processes of political 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 life 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 Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

and colonised the rest of the planet (p. 15). There is evidence that the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

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

Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than 100 pea ...

n glaciers (p. 20).

Chapter 2 - Humans in Universe

Our knowledge of the spherical shape of the Earth is central to our understanding of ecology (p. 34). This knowledge probably originated in prehistoric times, was certainly known to the

Ancient Greeks Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically re ...

, but was then suppressed for centuries by organised religion because it was incompatible with the official story of a

Heaven Heaven, or the Heavens, is a common Religious cosmology, religious cosmological or supernatural place where beings such as deity, deities, angels, souls, saints, or Veneration of the dead, venerated ancestors are said to originate, be throne, ...

above and a

Hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location or state in the afterlife in which souls are subjected to punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history sometimes depict hells as eternal destinations, such as Christianity and I ...

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 (, ; Egyptian language, Egyptian: ''wikt:pr ꜥꜣ, pr ꜥꜣ''; Meroitic language, Meroitic: 𐦲𐦤𐦧, ; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') was the title of the monarch of ancient Egypt from the First Dynasty of Egypt, First Dynasty ( ...

, 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-state A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world throughout history, including cities such as Rome, ...

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 is the exchange of capital, goods, and services across international borders or territories because there is a need or want of goods or services. (See: World economy.) In most countries, such trade represents a significan ...

, which appropriates the wealth of the planet for its own ends. Corruption in the form of "lawyer-capitalism" has led the US to become effectively bankrupt (p. 114), with the common people obliged to fund the profitmaking activity of corporations. (p. 101)

Part Two

The second part of the book explains Fuller's getting a perspective.

Chapter 4 - Self-Disciplines of Buckminster Fuller

Fuller's diary, the " Chronofile", 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 is a change in the orientation of the rotational axis of a rotating body. In an appropriate reference frame it can be defined as a change in the first Euler angle, whereas the third Euler angle defines the rotation itself. In o ...

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). Fuller observed that when he did things for the benefit of others, it had a positive effect on his life, but when he did things merely for his personal benefit, the outcome was negative. This eventually led him to the proposition that if he dedicated his life to the betterment of humanity, he would achieve the greatest positive outcome. So he decided to live his entire life as an experiment to prove or disprove this proposition. He writes (p. 145):

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 US, using radio triangulation, during and after World War II (p. 184). Geodesic domes will be built to enclose entire cities (p. 179).

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

was the heartland of the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

world, as it gave the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

the potential of a route through

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

to the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

(p. 194).

Chapter 6 - World Game

The World Game 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 Three

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 The Apollo program, also known as Project Apollo, was the United States human spaceflight program led by NASA, which Moon landing, landed the first humans on the Moon in 1969. Apollo followed Project Mercury that put the first Americans in sp ...

had a critical path 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-incinerator 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 United States 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 project Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England * Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, M ...

, 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 path. The title of the book is a term used in

project planning Project 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. Project planning can be done manually or by the use of project ma ...

. 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

, 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 Earth. 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).

Criticism

References

External links

Global Energy Network InstituteWorldGame 2.0 - Global Solutions LabGlobal Solutions LabYouTube Channel: 52 Living Ideas - Why read Critical Path by Buckminster Fuller with us?
{{Buckminster Fuller 1981 non-fiction books Books by Buckminster Fuller Futurology books Works about the theory of history Books about economic history Technology books