Rube Goldberg was an artist, inventor, engineer, author and sculptor. He is best known for his comical drawings of crazy contraptions and inventions. His artwork appeared in newspapers throughout the United States from the early 1900's to the 1960's. Today, the term Rube Goldberg is used to signify anything done in an overly compicated or round-about manner.

Rube Goldberg's cartoons are incredible displays of ingenuity, detailed logic, physics and satire. He poked fun at the many complicated inventions that were available at the beginning of the century, and at the round-about methods people divised for solving their problems.

Today, his spirit lives on in Rube Goldberg machine contests and school projects everywhere. Students use household items to try to build the most complex machine possible, to accomplish a simple task. For example, to turn the page of a book, a machine might include balls, string, various toys, pulley systems, old bicycle parts, mousetraps, recycled junk and more. The wackier the better! By building these crazy contraptions, students gain invaluable skills in creativity and science. Plus, it's fun!

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Look around this site, learn more about the amazing Rube Goldberg, and see how you can build your own Rube Goldberg machines.

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