Isambard Kingdom Brunel, FRS (9 April 1806 – 15 September 1859), is an English mechanical and civil engineer who builds dockyards, the Great Western Railway, a series of steamships including the first propeller-driven transatlantic steamship and numerous important bridges and tunnels.
His designs revolutionize public transport and modern engineering.
Though Brunel's projects are not always successful, they often contain innovative solutions to long-standing engineering problems.
During his short career, Brunel achieves many engineering "firsts", including assisting in the building of the first tunnel under a navigable river and development of SS Great Britain, the first propeller-driven oceangoing iron ship, which was at the time (1843) also the largest ship ever built.
Brunel sets the standard for a very well built railway, using careful surveys to minimize grades and curves.
This necessitates expensive construction techniques and new bridges and viaducts, and the two-mile-long Box Tunnel.
One controversial feature is the wide gauge, a "broad gauge" of 7 ft 0 1⁄4 in (2,140 mm), instead of what is later to be known as 'standard gauge' of 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm).
The wider gauge adds to passenger comfort but makes construction much more expensive and causes difficulties when eventually it has to interconnect with other railways using the narrower gauge.
As a result of the Railway Regulation (Gauge) Act 1846, the gauge is changed to standard gauge throughout the GWR network.
Brunel astonishes Britain by proposing to extend the Great Western Railway westward to North America by building steam-powered iron-hulled ships.
He designs and builds three ships that revolutionize naval engineering.
In 2002, Brunel is placed second in a BBC public poll to determine the "100 Greatest Britons".
In 2006, the bicentenary of his birth, a major program of events celebrates his life and work under the name Brunel 200.
