Rube Goldberg machine

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A Rube Goldberg machine or device is any exceedingly complex apparatus that performs a very simple task in a very indirect and convoluted way. It first appeared in Webster's Third New International Dictionary with the definition, "accomplishing by extremely complex roundabout means what actually or seemingly could be done simply." The expression has been dated as originating in the US around 1930[1] to describe Goldberg's illustrations of "absurdly-connected machines".[2] Since then, the expression's meaning has expanded to denote any form of overly confusing or complicated system. For example, recent news headlines include "Is Rep. Bill Thomas the Rube Goldberg of Legislative Reform?",[3] and "Retirement 'insurance' as a Rube Goldberg machine".[4]

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[edit] Other similar expressions internationally

  • The expression "Heath Robinson contraption", named after the fantastical comic machinery illustrated by British cartoonist W. Heath Robinson, shares a similar meaning but has been dated as originating in the UK in 1912.[5]
  • In Denmark, they are called Storm P maskiner, after the Danish cartoonist Robert Storm Petersen.
  • In Bengal, the humorist and children's author Sukumar Ray in his nonsense poem Abol tabol had a character ('Uncle') with a Rube Goldberg like machine called 'Uncle's contraption'. This word is used colloquially in Bengali to mean a complex and useless machine.
  • In Spain, devices akin to Goldberg's machines are known as Inventos del TBO (tebeo) named after those which cartoonist Ramón Sabatés made up and drew for a section in the TBO magazine, allegedly designed by some Professor Franz from Copenhagen.
  • The Norwegian cartoonist and storyteller Kjell Aukrust created a cartoon character named Reodor Felgen who constantly invented complex machinery. Though it was often built out of unlikely parts, it always performed very well. Felgen stars as the inventor of an extremely powerful but overly complex car Il Tempo Gigante in the Ivo Caprino animated puppet-film Flåklypa Grand Prix (1975).
  • In Turkey, such devices are known as Zihni Sinir Proceleri, allegedly invented by a certain Prof. Zihni Sinir (Crabby Mind), a curious "scientist" character created by İrfan Sayar in 1977 for the cartoon magazine Gırgır. The cartoonist later went on to open a studio selling actual working implementations of his designs.
  • Another related phenomenon is the Japanese art of useful but unusable contraptions called chindōgu.

[edit] Machine contest

In early 1987, Purdue University in Indiana started the annual National Rube Goldberg Machine Contest, organized by the Phi Chapter of Theta Tau, the National Professional Engineering Fraternity. The Rube Goldberg Machine Contest is sponsored by the Theta Tau Educational Foundation. The contest features US college and university teams building machines inspired by Rube Goldberg's cartoon. The contest is judged by the ability for the machine to complete the tasks specified by the challenge using as many steps as possible without a single failure, while making the machines themselves fitting into certain themes.

[edit] Influence on Popular culture

Humorously complex machines make appearances in a wide variety of media, and can be said to be Goldberg-esque, even if they are not specifically Rube Goldberg devices. However, given the predominantly US-centric nature of the expression, they could equally be said to be very "Heath Robinson" in a UK context, for example.

Example of a Rube Goldberg machine
Example of a Rube Goldberg machine
  • The Looney Tunes short "Hook, Line, and Stinker" ended with the Wile E. Coyote character attempting to use a Rube Goldberg machine to capture the Road Runner. Many other Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts employ such devices.
  • On the animated series Animaniacs, the character Wakko creates a complex Rube Goldberg device that will order pizza for him. In another short that parodies World War II recruitment war films, Yakko, Wakko, and Dot create a literal "Rube Goldberg device" (with Goldberg himself working it) meant to literally "wring out" a lawn in order to supposedly "save water."
  • The Tom and Jerry short "A Better Mousetrap" revolves around Tom's efforts to use a Rube Goldberg machine to drop a safe on Jerry. The mouse drawn on the blueprint changes a measurement on the plans, causing Tom to be hit with the safe after he builds the machine.
  • The 1987 installation The Way Things Go of a Heath Robinson/Rube Goldberg-type machine, was filmed and resulted in a more than 29 minutes short film.
  • The Ideal Toy Company released a board game called Mouse Trap in 1963 that was based on Rube Goldberg's ideas (this game is currently made by Hasbro).
  • The cartoon Scooby Doo, produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, often employed Rube Goldberg styled traps for catching the villain of the week (but often caught Shaggy and/or Scooby instead).
  • The 1999 film Simply Irresistible features a Rube Goldberg device that makes martinis.
  • 1985 flim "The Goonies" features an elaborate Rube Goldberg device that opens Brand and Mikey's front gate (the device involves a bowling ball, inflating balloon, the sprinkler system, and a live chicken). Many of the "booby traps" in the movie also contain similar elements.
  • The illustrations in books in the Professor Branestawm series, such as: The Incredible Adventures of Professor Branestawm (ISBN:0140351388) often include Rube Goldberg devices.
  • The 1985 movie Back to the Future features a Rube Goldberg device which the character Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown (Christopher Lloyd) uses to prepare his breakfast and feed his dog Einstein.
  • In the film Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, Pee Wee Herman (played by Paul Reubens) owns yet another "breakfast machine" which is seen in the first scene of the film.
  • The Family Guy episode 8 Simple Rules for Buying My Teenage Daughter featured Peter Griffin recalling a worthless 'Breakfast Machine' he bought. The machine was a Goldberg device, but as he explained in the show, "All it does is shoot you! It doesn't make breakfast at all!" The machine is actually a parody (down to the background music) of the Pee-Wee's big adventure machine.
  • During a special holiday episode of Mythbusters that aired December 6, 2006, Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman created a Rube Goldberg machine. It took them ten tries to get the entire system to work properly.
  • A segment of Jackass: The Movie known as "The Failed Ending" is described by Johnny Knoxville as "The Rube Goldberg Test". The scene involved each main cast member attempting to operate some kind of contraption which triggered the next part of the sequence, including Wee Man sliding down a giant Plinko wall and Dave England dressed as a giant penis skateboarding down a ramp chased by several bowling balls and crashing into a giant vagina. The stunt ended with Knoxville being launched into a lake where Rip Taylor was sitting in a boat throwing confetti. The entire scene is included in the DVD extras.
  • In the 1968 movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (based on Ian Fleming's novel of the same name), an inventor named Caractacus Potts (played by Dick Van Dyke) has several Rube Goldberg machines in his house. One that is shown several times is a machine that makes breakfast (fried eggs and bacon) and delivers it on wheeled plates on the table. The machine seems to work fine, but it malfunctions once or twice.
  • An episode of The X-Files was titled "The Goldberg Variation" and features several Goldberg machines.
  • The Final Destination series of films features "real life" Goldberg machines, in which seemingly harmlessly arranged everyday items can interact with each other and cause chain reactions which result in the characters' deaths.
  • In 2003 Honda released a 2 minute commercial (called The Cog) showing a Rube Goldberg machine made out of Honda Accord parts.
  • The producers of LOST have described the TV show as "a massive Rube Goldberg device, in which all the components of the machinery are humans."[6]
  • In the movie "Waiting..." there is a Rube Goldberg machine seen at the end of the movie after the "Andy Milonakis" video and after the end credits. It is a video that involves dominoes, a stuffed bobcat and ends pouring a beer out of a bottle into a glass mug.
  • In the movie The Master of Disguise, starring Dana Carvey, he opens a secret room in his house with a Rube Goldberg type contraption.

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-hea4.htm
  2. ^ http://www.rube-goldberg.com/
  3. ^ http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2005/06/is_rep_bill_tho.html
  4. ^ http://www.reason.com/news/show/34031.html
  5. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/robinson_william_heath.shtml
  6. ^ http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20010504,00.html

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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