Boing Boing: Cartoonist Rube Goldberg's absurdly complex mechanisms for achieving easy results are so ingrained in popular culture that the artist/engineer's name appears in the dictionary as an adjective. A new book highlights his happy mutant approach to engineering.
18 comments:
This book looks like something that I would really love to take a look at after having completed the Rube Goldberg project last year. To me, the Rube Goldberg project was one of the most exciting projects of the year, but also, the most frustrating and difficult project to be completed. After all of the emotions, hours, and energy that was poured into this project, I suspect that it would be fun to look at a comic type book that looks at these, "marvelous machines." I think that this project was incredibly helpful last year, and I hope that it continues to be a part of the freshman year.
I've been aware of Rube Goldberg machines for quite some time, I've seen a number of videos that have been together over the years, I loved playing Mousetrap as a kid and last year I was a part of the largest traveling Rube Goldberg machine in America at the NYC Maker Faire, which was a life-sized mouse-trap course using people as the mice. But I never knew anything about the man himself, and I've never seen any of cartoons. I'm adding this book to my Christmas list immediately and hopefully Santa will be good to me this year.
I love me some Rube Goldberg. Last year during the Rube Goldberg project I did a lot of research and I ended up seeing most of the images that he created. I really enjoyed creating our machine. I know that many of my class mates had a rough time with the project, but not me. Every moment I spent working on the project was a blast. For me "engineering for the fun of it" is what I do all the time. I think that the Rube Goldberg project can teach a lot about engineering and having a good attitude towards it as well as team work and organization. A little fun fact that I happen to know is that many other countries have had similar styles of comics created by other people. They each have their own terms for the general idea. In England they call it a Heath Robinson contraption after the man who drew similar comics across the pond.
I agree with Joe in this, I feel like this is a book I would be very happy in getting come Christmas time. I've always been the "engineering for the fun of it" type of guy and I can't wait to undertake this project next semester with my class mates. I too remember playing mousetrap as a child and how extremely fun it was to set up something so complex and have it achieve something so trivial. These types of things have always been an interest to me and I'm excited to learn more about Rube Goldberg and his methods.
Now that is success as an artist, to have your name appear as active word in the dictionary. I know a few inventors and entrepreneurs have made it in there, or at least into the mouths of many americas as verbs, but to do so as an artist is a serious feat. I think it is just amazing what an impact he has had on the world. I would really love to read his book, especially because based on the image it doesn't seem to be exactly your run of the mill novel. Art books, like Understanding Comics, are such a great learning tool because you really get such a great understanding of the artist and their work and they are often very inspiring. On a different note I also think it is interesting that so many processes could really be considered a Rube Goldberg Machine even when not directly made to be one.
I would love to take a look at this book. Rube Goldberg machines are so fascinating, even if they are excessively complex. In the engineering world, they serve more as a proof of concept than anything actually useful. As it said in the article, Rube Goldberg machines are all about building a ...better isn't exactly the right word....mousetrap; ie. they're designed to do a simple task in a different way. That all being said, large ones take so much forethought and skill that building one is much more difficult than people assume, and can be a good way to test and exercise one's engineering know-how.
This would be an interesting book to read considering in a few weeks my class will have to put together their own Rube Goldberg. To be honest I did not know much about Rube Goldberg until coming to CMU, but now knowing what it is I've realized I have been intrigued by his work for a while now. I am very excited to get to work on a project of my own and learn more about Rube Goldberg and the kind of work he has done.
I can't help loving and hating Rube Goldberg. The concept of the even better mouse trap is really quite genius and I would love to see more of his illustrations and cartoons. However, After going through the slightly painful process of building a Rube Goldberg machine I can no longer look at them with the same awe and excitement. Building a working Rube Goldberg machine is a true engineering feat. I think I would have been interested in reading this book before I built the machine, it would have given me a better idea of who Goldberg was as an artist and as a person.
This book is amazing! Like others have stated, Rube Goldberg machines have been around for quite some time and I think that the prevalence of them in modern society has only become greater and greater. I remember the OK Go video with the single shot Rube Goldberg machine and that was phenomenal. I think that the planning and organization that goes into things like this are really fascinating from a managerial perspective.
Ever since I visited CMU last year and I heard about the Rube Goldberg project I was excited to work on it this year. Then I came here and heard lovely reviews of it from the sophmore class. It seems that, except for a few people, it wasn't the best of experiences. I'm still looking forward to making one though, and it can't be any worse than the two that I made in high school. This book seems so cool, and I really want to read it at some point. The images and the concept of a better mousetrap remind me a lot of the Roald Dahl book "Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator". The character of the president in the book spends all of his time making these really complicated fly traps. Rube Goldberg was such an awesome cartoonist, and despite what some sophmores may say I think I'm going to have a lot of fun working on the project next semester.
This name is used so often that I forget it was a real person. I love that he was a cartoonist, creating more imaginative, unrealistic contraptions. When I think of a Rube Goldberg machine, I typically think of a very complex, expertly timed machine, so it's cool to be reminded that they started out so whimsical, and in fact to make fun of modern engineering rather than perfect it.
Every time I hear Rube Goldberg I think of the the movie the Goonies (probably because that was the first exposure I had to the idea of complicated machinery for a simple task). Specifically I think of the scene in the beginning where the main character sets off a series of seemingly random chain reactions just to open the door for his friend. I think it would be really interesting to take a look at this new book and see Rube's actual ideas as well as the type of art he used to make them come alive. I had never realized that they were "recorded" as cartoons but it definitely seems appropriate for the idea!
For some reason while working on the Rube Goldberg project I never once thought about looking at the man's actual machines. I researched lots of machines on youtube but it looks like I should have looked at Rube Goldberg's machines for inspiration. There are a lot of good ideas that could have been used in the project that I hadn't thought of before. I cant wait to see what the freshman do next semester.
I feel the same way about Rube Goldberg as I do about Bill Watterson. Neither can do any wrong in my book. They are both able to create such elegant images with simple recognizable characters. It is always a pleasure to see a cartoonist with a serious ability to communicate complex sequences. These images leave just the right amount to the imagination.
Rube Goldberg machines have been fascinating to me ever since I saw one on an episode of myth busters. That being said this book looks amazing! Similar to most people on this list you could consider this on my Christmas list. I had no idea that good ol' Rube was a cartoonist as well. I'd love to be able to read this book and see some of the cartoons in the book. Based on the photos in this book I think that I would really like this book. It looks like the types of humor are right up my alley, over the top, over complicated humor that I would certainly laugh at.
I have loved Rube Goldberg machines since I was very young. I spent countless hours as a kid building silly little ones around my room and even more time watching much more complicated ones run in videos. I have read many of Goldberg's comics and I have always been amused by the crazy things in them. This is a fun article to have on the blog and a great look at the life of a great man, I will have to keep my eye out for the book when it comes out.
I have always thought rube goldbergs machines were fascinating, and so I'm so glad that they published a book of them! I'm probably going to buy it soon. I also think its interesting how this article goes into the history of his machines but also includes biographical information about his life. I also like how you can see the evolution of the machines throughout the book. This seems like it would be a very good resource for all of us as we go into the rube goldberg project next semester.
It's great learning a bit about Rube Goldberg's history after just recently doing a massive project based on his concept. The project is interesting to think about. Figuring out how to do certain things that seem impossible and yet pulling it off anyway. Physics!! However, not only was it a fun project when thinking individually, but as a whole, I feel that my class gained a lot from this project and really got a sense of who we were as the night turned into day the night before it was due. Rube is an interesting man and I'm glad we get to experience his ideas by putting them into use... even if it include an inflatable sex goat sliding down a stripper pole...
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