Rube Goldberg Books

My father had this book when I was a kid. I guess I have to admit my age! It's 53. When I was six or eight I looked at these over and over again and thought they were the greatest fun. I wish I knew what my family did with the book, but would love to see them again. What an imagination this guy had. If you have never seen how to get the "Cotton out of an Aspirin Bottle", well, you just don't have all the answers! And that's a fact! Don't know why he never got a patent for some of these contraptions. If anyone could make a simple job complicated it was Rube.

A favorite book for kids and adults. If you enjoyed the game "mousetrap" or trying to figure out how things work - you'll like these crazy pictures of Rube Goldberg "machines". A great way to exercise your imagination and inventive skills!

Wonderful and creative drawings set imaginations free and give a glimpse into American culture of the times. A lot of fun to look at the detailed drawings, especially in the company of inquisitive 6 year olds! This is one that they'll probably remember in 20 years...

Finding this book was a real treat.I haven't seen much of his work for a long time.Little wonder,since Rube died in 1970.Goldberg is a national treasure,not only for his Inventions,but also for many other art forms.He graduated as a Mining Engineer,did Vaudville,wrote songs and plays,was in Motion pictures,Newsreels,Radio,and TV.He also took up Sculpture at the age of 80 selling about 300 works to private collectors,galleries and museums.
He created his own artform and was a resounding success by his early 30's and remained so the rest of his life of 87 years.His cartooning skills reflected the early years of cartoons where the message was more important than the artwork;which really came into its own and exploded after WWII.That is,more like the stuff we saw from Mutt and Jeff by Bud Fisher and R F Outault's Yellow Kid.Generally speaking,after the war,the great change in artwork after WWII became the world of comics,such as Dick Tracy by Chester Gould,Terry and the Pirates by Milton Caniff and what we see today in Doonesbury by Gary Trudeau.
I can't remember if I ever saw any of Rube's cartoons in color and there is no use or mention of color in the book.While he still produced well after color became popular in comics and cartoons,the question remains unanswered.On his website there is a Machine Contest 2005 in color,but it is obviously not his work.Does anyone know if any of Rube's cartoons were printed in color?
Overall,this is an excellent book and does a good job on the life and work of an artist who entertained so many for so long.

Rube is a role model for our 5 year old grandson, Bryan, who is busily engaged in creating wonderful, imaginative inventions using "found objects" of string, and spools, and boxes. Bryan also diagrams them..........he is the spiritual son of The Man, Rube.

Your efforts in preserving Rube's flights of creative imagination are being passed on to a new generation of young thinkers. Who knows where the ripples of this pebble cast upon the waters may wash ashore and take root?

I purchased this book to use in my HS physical science class. IT WAS A HIT! I mainly used it for transformation of energy. The kids were first pretty confused but it didn't take long to get the hang of Mr Goldberg's style. I have a student with autism who was just facinated and read it cover to cover. What a treasure to have that hisotry and "uniqueness" preserved!! Many thanks to the authors and family!!!!

The concept of accomplishing a ridiculously simple task with incredible complexity, is invented and taught here by Rube Goldberg.

As mechanical engineers in college, we used to play around with this concept quite often.

The use of unpredictable things in his cartoons (people, animals) make a cartoon look impossible, if it isn't enough already.

A plant being watered and growing (in a couple of seconds) to accompllish a task is to me, not possible, but at least predictable. An animal or person being heated up, causes Goldberg's desired effect only because he drew the human to do so. But for the human, the number of possible responses are many. We all know that the watered plant will do only one thing. Go up. The time suggested for it to do so; therein lies the humor.

I taught at a school were the final senior project in the Honors Physics class was the invention of a "Rube Goldberg" machine that had to accomplish a task such as making chocolate milk or putting toothpaste on a toothbrush. Goldberg's genius was to "invent" wonderful complicated mechanical solutions (totally tongue in cheek) for the real problems of American life such as a "Simple Way to Carve a Turkey" or "Putting the Cat Out at Night."

For example, here are the instructions for a "Simple Alarm Clock": The early bird (A) arrives and catches worm (B), pulling string (C) and shooting off pistol (D). Bullet (E) bursts balloon (F), dropping brick (G) on bulb (H) of atomizer (I) and shooting perfume (J) on sponge (K). As sponge gains in weight, it lowers itself and pulls string (L), raising end of board (M). Cannon ball (N) drops on nose of sleeping gentleman--String tied to cannon ball releases cork (O) of vacuum bottle (P) and ice water falls on sleeper's face to assist the cannon ball in its good work.

Now, the description alone is pretty good, but add to this Goldberg's illustration in which everything is labeled from A to O (in this case). In "The Best of Rube Golberg," Charles Keller has collected the best of his prolific output to introduce those fascinating contraptions, which made the name Rube Goldberg a household word. Granted, today's children might not recognize his name, but if they have every played "Mousetrap" then they will totally understand the guiding principle at work here. The book is tailored for young children as an introduction to Goldberg's genius. There are dozens of examples from his "Automatic Weight-Reducing Machine" from 1914 to a similar goal in "Every Woman to Have a Perfect Figure" from 1944.

Rube Goldberg has given his name to any contraption where a complex set of operations are combined to perform a simple task. The cartoons of his "inventions" are classics in the field and some of the better ones are included in this collection. However, he also developed other cartoons, a series called "I'm the guy" and another called "Foolish question no. ****" are two of the best known ones. Until I read this book, I was unaware that he drew these other strips. Goldberg also drew cartoons that lampooned sports fan(atic)s. These are funny and as applicable today as they were when he drew them. His Boob McNutt series about the buffoon that catches a lovely girl appeals to the ugly duckling in all of us.
Some of his cartoons show a great deal of male chauvinism that will offend many modern readers. One in particular features a stylish woman who dresses up to go out to vote, but when she gets to the booth, has no idea who she wants to vote for. Goldberg also drew editorial cartoons and in his last years, became a sculptor. The sculptures show that he was truly a versatile artist as well as a genius in lampooning the human condition via his cartoons.
I was impressed with the wide spectrum of work that Rube Goldberg created throughout his life. If you are interested in the output of this extremely talented man, then this book is for you.