R. Buckminster Fuller was a 20th century inventor, mathematician and futurist. Philosophically he was concerned with meeting the needs of a growing global civilization while reducing the use of natural resources; his inventions were meant to achieve those goals by simplifying and improving human housing and the objects of daily life. Never quite a mainstream figure, Fuller was viewed by some as an impractical dreamer but embraced by others as a visionary genius. His most famous invention, the geodesic dome, uses a series of interlocking triangles to create a lightweight, sturdy dome which needs no internal supports.

Extra credit: Fuller coined the phrase "Spaceship Earth."