rube goldberg machine

12.03.09
The Breakdown

Homage to Rube Goldberg

It all starts with a single ball -- and, of course, a lot of potential energy
By Adam Weiner Posted 04.15.2009 at 1:36 pm 2 Comments

Ladies and gentlemen, for your consideration -- a real-life Rube Goldberg machine! As you may or may not be aware, Rube Goldberg was an early 20th century cartoonist (and engineer). His cartoons depicted imaginary machines capable of performing ordinary tasks in an extremely complicated way. Here in these modern times, we see the Rube Goldberg legacy in the children's game called "Mousetrap." In the educational arena, the building of Rube Goldberg machines has become a popular project in high school and college physics classes, and for hobbyists dabbling in this whimsical genre. Why? Because these contraptions beautifully illustrate a number of fundamental physics principles.

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Build Your Own Virtual Rube Goldberg Whizbang Doohickey

By Jake Ward Posted 08.23.2007 at 11:18 am 1 Comment

Goldberg_rube_buffet44The illustrations of Rube Goldberg (July 4, 1883 - December 7, 1970), depicting complicated machinery accomplishing simple tasks via overly complicated means, were a brilliant satire on the mechanization of human life. 
What, then, would Goldberg have made of Crazy Machines II (in German), a new PC title to be released in October, in which you're handed a workshop full of virtual doodads with which to turn lights on, release a squirt of water, and carry a domino from A to B? Would he have been flattered? Or would the notion of people spending precious time building virtual, imaginary machines have sent him screaming from the room?

Whatever. With all the brain-splattering and thuggery of my gaming life, I think my wife would approve of my ignoring her in the name of getting a sprinkler to tip a bowling ball into a slingshot instead. Besides, it's good training for any entries I might want to submit to Purdue's Rube Goldberg Machine Contest. —Jacob Ward

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