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Bucky and Rusty: The Founding Fathers of Geoship
- Lauren Russo
- Jul 3
- 5 min read
At Geoship, our mission is to build homes that heal people and the planet — a vision made possible by standing on the shoulders of two legendary innovators: Buckminster Fuller and Rustum Roy.
Together, their combined genius in geometry and material science laid the foundation for bioceramic domes — fusing geodesic design with next-generation ceramics. We like to think of them as the founding fathers of Geoship.
Buckminster Fuller (July 12, 1895 – July 1, 1983)
Rustum Roy (July 3, 1924 – August 26, 2010)
Buckminster Fuller: The Trim Tab that Moved the World
Born in 1895, Buckminster "Bucky" Fuller was a polymath, architect, and visionary who changed how we think about housing and planetary design. He introduced geodesic domes to mass awareness — structures that are not only beautiful and strong but use fewer materials to enclose more space than any other shape.
Bucky believed small actions can change the course of history. On his gravestone, as he instructed, it simply reads: "CALL ME TRIMTAB, BUCKY"
In his words:
“Something hit me very hard once, thinking about what one little man could do. Think of the Queen Mary — the whole ship goes by and then comes the rudder. And there’s a tiny thing at the edge of the rudder called a trim tab.
It’s a miniature rudder. Just moving the little trim tab builds a low pressure that pulls the rudder around. Takes almost no effort at all. So I said that the little individual can be a trim tab
Society thinks it’s going right by you, that it’s left you altogether. But if you’re doing dynamic things mentally, the fact is that you can just put your foot out like that and the whole big ship of state is going to turn. So said, call me ‘Trim Tab.’”
Bucky's mission was bold and timeless:
“To make the world work for 100% of humanity in the shortest possible time through spontaneous cooperation without ecological offense or the disadvantage of anyone.”
Although he designed the Dymaxion House, a mass-producible home for humanity, and patented the geodesic dome, Bucky recognized that the materials needed to truly fulfill this vision were still decades away.
“The gravitational field will ultimately be disclosed as ultra high-frequency tensegrity geodesic spheres. Nothing else.”
A well supported theory later published in nature magazine suggests he was right.
He saw the dome not only as a home but as a structure aligned with the fundamental geometry of the universe — "wooden spaceships" awaiting future materials to launch their full potential.
Rustum Roy: The Alchemist of Materials
Enter Rustum "Rusty" Roy, born in 1924 — a visionary in material science and crystal chemistry. Just a few years after Bucky’s passing, Rusty introduced an entirely new class of materials known as Chemically Bonded Ceramics (bioceramics) — strong, durable, and advanced enough to finally realize Bucky’s dream of a geodesic home for humanity.
Recognizing their potential, Argonne National Laboratory launched a 12-year, publicly funded research and development initiative to advance and commercialize these breakthrough materials.
Rusty often reminded his students:
"Technology often precedes scientific theory."
Historical Examples of Technology Preceding Science:
The Steam Engine (1698) → Thermodynamics (1850s)
Thomas Savery and later James Watt developed steam engines before scientists formulated the laws of thermodynamics to explain their efficiency and limitations.
The engines worked through empirical improvements rather than theoretical understanding.
Metallurgy (Ancient Times) → Atomic Theory (19th Century)
Humans were smelting and forging metals thousands of years ago without understanding atoms, molecular structures, or chemical bonding.
Scientific metallurgy only emerged after atomic and crystallographic theories in the 1800s.
Flight (1903) → Aerodynamics (1920s-30s)
The Wright brothers built and flew the first powered airplane using empirical methods and wind tunnel testing.
It wasn’t until later that the Navier-Stokes equations and modern aerodynamics fully explained lift and airflow.
Electricity (Ancient to 1800s) → Electromagnetic Theory (1860s)
People used static electricity and simple circuits before James Clerk Maxwell’s electromagnetic equations formally described how electricity and magnetism interact.
Vaccination (1796) → Germ Theory (1860s)
Edward Jenner developed the smallpox vaccine without knowing about viruses or bacteria.
It wasn’t until Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch that germ theory explained why vaccines work.
Technology is often ahead of science, with real-world innovations forcing scientists to figure out the "why" later. But once science catches up, the refinement and acceleration of that technology become exponential. 🚀
Why Does Technology Often Lead Science?
Human Problem-Solving – Necessity drives people to invent solutions without waiting for a complete theoretical framework.
Trial and Error – Tinkering, experimentation, and iterative design often yield functional results before deep understanding.
Empirical Knowledge – Observations and heuristics allow people to manipulate materials and forces without knowing the underlying laws.
Rusty devoted a large portion of his career to defining what he called the “Science of Whole Person Healing”. He was studying how the practices of Reiki and Qigong can change the molecular structure of water and produce healing effects in the body. Rusty was a bridge between science and healing. He believed the healing arts should be advanced by the scientific method, not dismissed by stodgy scientific theology.
His guiding principle?
"Forget the science and sit before the facts."
Rusty believed that love is metaphysical gravity — echoing Bucky’s vision of a universe interconnected by unseen forces.
The Fusion of Geometry and Bioceramics: A New Era of Homebuilding
At Geoship, we see bioceramic domes as the next step in this lineage — the realization of what Bucky dreamed of and Rusty made possible.
Bucky gave us the geometry — the geodesic dome as nature’s perfect form. Rusty gave us the material — bioceramics that are stronger than concrete, resistant to fire, flood, mold, and earthquake, and naturally non-toxic and healing.
Together, their work creates homes built for the next century, not the last.
Why This Matters Now
Our world faces intersecting crises — housing, climate, community breakdown, and health. The way we build our homes has to change.
“Love is metaphysical gravity.” — Bucky Fuller
Geoship domes are not just shelters — they are vessels for a new way of living:
Affordable, resilient, regenerative homes.
Designed for human thriving and planetary healing.
Homes for the next economy and a new paradigm.
Just as Bucky and Rusty were ahead of their time, bioceramic domes are technology leading science and culture once again — showing what's possible when we align design, materials, and purpose.
Be Part of the Next Chapter — Reserve Your Dome Today
If you’ve ever dreamed of living in a geodesic home, a home that’s aligned with nature, community, and future generations, now is the time to take the next step.
✨ Reserve your Geoship Dome today and be part of making history.
In Closing: A Tribute to Bucky and Rusty
Bucky and Rusty remind us that human ingenuity, when aligned with love and purpose, can create a world that works for all. Their legacy is not in the past — it’s alive in every dome we build.
As Rusty said:
“Technology is the world’s most powerful religion, because it delivers experience, not theory.”
Let’s experience this future together.
The Bible is not theory. The Bible is fact.