巴克明斯特·富勒（R. Buckminster Fuller），美国科学家、发明家、设计师和未来学家。他的一生酷似凡尔纳笔下的全才工程师。富勒1895年出生于马萨诸塞州米尔顿，是先验论者富勒的侄孙。他在哈佛大学两次被开除而又复学，50年代后圆顶建筑大获成功，为他赢得世界性声誉。

富勒赢得了二十八个美国专利、四十七个荣誉学位，获得罗纳德·里根总统颁发的自由勋章。

他于1983年在洛杉矶因癌症去世，归葬马萨诸塞州剑桥。

R. Buckminster Fuller is regarded as one of the most important figures of the 20th century, renowned for his achievements as an inventor, designer, architect, philosopher, mathematician, and dogged individualist. Perhaps best remembered for the Geodesic Dome and the term "Spaceship Earth," his work and his writings have had a profound impact on modern life and thought.

Critical Path is Fuller's master work--the summing up of a lifetime's thought and concern--as urgent and relevant as it was upon its first publication in 1981. Critical Path details how humanity found itself in its current situation—at the limits of the planet's natural resources and facing political, economic, environmental, and ethical crises.

The crowning achievement of an extraordinary career, Critical Path offers the reader the excitement of understanding the essential dilemmas of our time and how responsible citizens can rise to meet this ultimate challenge to our future.