Chuck Hoberman Innovative Lives Presentation
name: label: Creator
content: Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation.
label: Creator
content: Hoberman, Chuck
label: Names
content: Hoberman Associates, Inc.
topic: label: Topic
content: Sphere
label: Topic
content: Inventors -- 1990-2000
label: Topic
content: Geometry -- Descriptive
label: Topic
content: Geometry -- Modern
label: Topic
content: Inventions -- 1990-2000
label: Topic
content: Domes
label: Topic
content: Flying discs (Game)
label: Topic
content: Frisbees
label: Topic
content: Geodesics (Mathematics)
label: Topic
content: Architectural design
label: Topic
content: Architecture
label: Topic
content: Slides
label: Topic
content: Photographs
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: This collection was created by the Innovative Lives Program of The Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation on May 8, 1996. The Innovative Lives series brings young people and American inventors together to discuss inventions and the creative process and to experiment and play with hands-on activities related to each inventor's product.
creator: label: Creator
content: Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation.
label: Creator
content: Hoberman, Chuck
setName: label: See more items in
content: Chuck Hoberman Innovative Lives Presentation
abstract: label: Summary
content: This collection contains original videos documenting Chuck Hoberman, inventor the Hoberman Sphere.
bioghist: label: Biographical/Historical note
content: Chuck Hoberman was born in 1956 and attended Brown University and holds a B.F.A. from Cooper Union and a M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Columbia University. He also holds four patents on ways to pleat sheets (of metal, plastic, or paper), and two patents on truss structures (structures that are based on series of triangles joined together). Hoberman has built expandable geodesic domes and spheres, including a motorized geodesic sphere that expands from 4.5 feet in diameter to 18 feet in diameter. Another dome, the "Iris Dome," could be used for emergency shelters and portable exhibition spaces. He named the dome after the iris of an eye, which also expands and contracts proportionally. Besides the Iris Sphere and a small toy called the Hoberman Sphere, Chuck Hoberman has invented a collapsible frisbee, a collapsible tent, and a collapsible briefcase. Hoberman combines aesthetics (the art of making things look pleasing to the eye) with engineering with problem-solving. His intriguing creations, based on both basic geometry and complex mathematics, solve problems or offer opportunities in the real world. In 1990, he founded his own company, called Hoberman Associates, Inc.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 0.25 Cubic feet (3 boxes)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1996-05-08
custodhist: label: Custodial History
content: The collection was transferred to the Archives Center on July 8, 1997.
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.0604
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Oral history
label: Type
content: Interviews
label: Type
content: Videotapes
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged into three series.

Series 1: Original Videos

Series 2: Reference Videos

Series 3: Photographs and Slides
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Collection processed by Alison Oswald, July 16, 1997.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Oral history -- 1990-2000
label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews -- 1980-2000
label: Genre/Form
content: Videotapes -- 1990-2000
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents note
content: Original videotapes documenting Chuck Hoberman, inventor of expandable geodesic domes and spheres. Hoberman invented the Hoberman Sphere, Iris Dome, and a collapsible frisbee, tent and briefcase.