Think Round: The Story of David B. South and The Monolithic Dome

Think Round: The Story of David B. South and The Monolithic DomeWritten by Freda Parker to whom David told his story, this book is absolutely chockful of photographs, so you can see as well as read about the people and events David describes. Those events are true life experiences and fond memories, many funny and some sad. David recalls his grandparents and parents, their triumphs and tribulations and the lessons they taught him that ultimately helped shape the person he became. David also describes his early

Written by Freda Parker to whom David told his story, this book is absolutely chockful of photographs, so you can see as well as read about the people and events David describes. Those events are true-life experiences and fond memories, many funny and some sad. David recalls his grandparents and parents, their triumphs and tribulations and the lessons they taught him that ultimately helped shape the person he became.

David also describes his early life, split between two very different environments. He spent his summers at a primitive, backwoods sawmill in Island Park, Idaho. There, David played with his siblings and cousins, sometimes got into mischief, and simultaneously learned about people and sawmilling, mainly from his dad. In the winters, David lived and went to school in the modern western town of Idaho Falls, where he learned even more about people, what education can and cannot do for you, and what he liked, disliked and wanted to become.

When he was just sixteen, David lost his dad. That tragedy became a turning point in his life. He recounts the confusion, sadness and worry he felt and the ways in which he and his family were affected.

But his father’s death was not the only turning point in David’s life. While still in high school, he just happened to catch a radio broadcast of Buckminster Fuller talking about Geodesic Domes. That changed his life. He immediately became a dedicated domephile!

Almost immediately after hearing Fuller, David decided that he wanted to build domes. But not just any domes. His goal called for BIG DOMES, that were strong and durable and that could be built economically. Fulfilling that criteria took many years of study, research, trial and error, and ultimately success.

In Think Round, David recounts how major events in his life, like the rungs of a ladder, led to that success. He tells of the various other jobs he held and about South’s, Inc., the foam-spraying business he and his brothers started and ran. That enterprise led David and his brothers, Barry and Randy, directly to their invention of the Monolithic Dome.

But at that point, it’s not “and they all lived happily ever after in their Monolithic Dome.” Instead, the book documents that period of the Monolithic Dome’s early existence that included more experimentation, frustrating failures and exhilarating successes.
Think Round then concludes with more humorous anecdotes as well as some of David’s personal philosophy, dreams and goals. It’s a good read and the perfect gift for a domephile — or just anyone who likes books.

• Download first 35 pages

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