Rube Goldberg Machine

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A Rube Goldberg machine is an extremely complex apparatus that performs a very simple, very easy task in an indirect and convoluted way. The most horrible examples of his machines have an anticipation factor, as the machine makes slow but steady progress toward its goal. The term also applies as a classification for a generally over-complicated apparatus or software. The corresponding term in the United Kingdom is "Heath Robinson" (machine or contraption), after the British cartoonist with a similar focus on odd machinery. The term "Rube Goldberg machine" 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." Rube Goldberg's inventions are a unique commentary on life's complexities. They provide a humorous diversion into the absurd that lampoons the wonders of technology. These satires of man's ingenuity resonate in modern life for those seeking simplicity in the midst of a technology revolution. Goldberg's machines can also be seen as a physical representation of the pataphysical, carrying a simple idea to a nonsensical, ornamented extreme.