During my days away from the computer, I happened to catch the first scene of Peewee's Big Adventure (one of my favorite movies), which features a remarkable example of what's known as a Rube Goldberg machine.
Though Rube Goldberg was a famous cartoonist during his lifetime, these days he's best known for introducing the style of contraption that now bears his name. According to Webster's dictionary, a Rube Goldberg machine is one designed to "accomplish by extremely complex and roundabout means what actually or seemingly could be done simply." Sounds complicated--and they are--but they sure are entertaining to watch. (See below.)
Devotees of Rube Goldberg machines include Wallace (of Wallace and Grommit fame), Wile E. Coyote, Caractacus Potts, and that kid from Home Alone.
4 comments:
Cool. I want to make one!
in a science lab we had to do a few weeks ago we were given this elaberate scrambled picture of a mouse trap that we had to put back together (we were doing a simple machines recap) the day ended in a contest to see who could put the puzzle back together first...in the end the mouse trap included something like six levers, three pulleys, wedges, etc. it looked a lot like one of those pics!
ah the japnesese, making great videos for a long time
I could watch that all day.
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