
"Something hit me very hard once, thinking about what one little man could do. Think of the Queen Marythe whole ship goes by and then comes the rudder. And there's a tiny thing at the edge of the rudder called a trim tab.
It's a miniature rudder. Just moving the little trim tab builds a low pressure that pulls the rudder around. Takes almost no effort at all. So I said that the little individual can be a trim tab. Society thinks it's going right by you, that it's left you altogether. But if you're doing dynamic things mentally, the fact is that you can just put your foot out like that and the whole big ship of state is going to go.
So I said, call me Trim Tab."
—R. Buckminster Fuller, Barry Farrell (Playboy Interview, Feb 1972)


The Mission of Our Newsletter, Trimtab.
The Trimtab highlights projects, organizations and individuals who are applying Design Science principles to make the world work for everyone.
We are looking to expand our team of contributing writers for publication in the Trimtab and on our web site. If you would like to write an article on a cutting-edge project or initiative, or if you have interest in or an idea related to our focus or know someone who does, please contact us. We'd love to hear from you!
Download TRIMTAB issues in PDF format:
- Current Release: Summer 2005, Vol. 18, No. 1
- Spring 2004, Vol. 17, No. 1
- Fall/Winter 2003, Vol. 16, No. 3
- Summer 2003, Vol. 16, No. 2
- Spring 2003, Vol. 16 No. 1
- Fall/Winter 2002, Vol. 15 No. 3
- Summer 2002, Vol. 15 No. 2
- Spring 2002, Vol 15 No. 1
- Summer 2001, Vol. 14 No. 3
- Spring 2001, Vol. 14 No. 2
- Winter 2001, Vol. 14 No. 1
- Fall 2000, Vol. 13 No. 4
- Summer 2000, Vol. 13 No. 3
- Spring 2000, Vol. 13 No. 2
- Winter 2000, Vol. 13 No. 1
- Summer 1999, Vol. 12 No. 2
- Spring 1999, Vol. 12 No. 1
- December 1998, Vol. 11 No. 1
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