The American architect and engineer, Buckminster Fuller, was born in 1895 in Massachusetts. He devoted his life to the invention of revolutionary technological designs to solve problems of modem living; He is best known for his development of the geodesic dome, which is an extremely light and yet enormously strong spherical structure composed of triangular pieces. The geodesic dome is an application of his principle of deriving maximum output from a minimum input of material and energy. In the 1950s, many of these domes were built for military and industrial uses. A considerable number of homes also have been built using geodesic dome structures. Fuller was also a controversial writer. Among his many books are Nine Chains to the Moon (1938). Ideas and Integrities (1963 - an autobiography), Utopia or Oblivion (1970), and Earth, Inc. (1973).