Rube Goldberg Devices

Answer to Last Week's Question: The first major discovery or invention conceived by early humans is arguably the domestication of animals and the use of irrigation in agriculture, both of which would have undoubtedly revolutionized their society.

After learning that we would soon be developing our own Rube Goldberg devices in class, I decided to research a little about this extraordinary man and his life. Goldberg began his career as an engineer, graduating from Berkley in 1904. From there he began a distinguished career in cartooning, working at papers of the caliber of the San Francisco Chronicle and incorporating his experience as an engineer into his cartoons. His career culminated in his reception of the 1940 Pulitzer Prize for political cartooning. Unfortunately later in life his cartoons became so controversial in the WWII era he was forced to change his name and to go in to hiding. Accounts of his life after that point become sketchy. He died on December 7^th, 1970.

The cartoon series his is best known for, the “Professor Butts” collection, utilized Goldberg’s knowledge of engineering, physics and the flow of energy to construct theoretical machines that would perform simple tasks. His designs gave rise to many copycats and later to design contests which encourage students to explore the three dimensional world of energy as opposed to the linear one. His designs also prompted our project.

Question: What tasks have students been required to complete in past Rube Goldberg challenges.

Below is the the "Cog" advertisement developed by Honda, a classic example of a Rube Goldberg machine.