Brunel, Isambard Kingdom (1806-1859)

English engineer and inventor. In 1833 he became engineer to the Great Western Railway, which adopted the 2.1-m/7-ft gauge on his advice. He built the Clifton Suspension Bridge over the River Avon at Bristol and the Saltash Bridge over the River Tamar near Plymouth. His shipbuilding designs include the Great Western (1837), the first steamship to cross the Atlantic regularly; the Great Britain (1843), the first large iron ship to have a screw propeller; and the Great Eastern (1858), which laid the first transatlantic telegraph cable.

Brunel was born in Portsmouth and educated partly in France.

In 1833 he was appointed to carry out improvements on the Bristol docks, and while working on this project his interest in the potential of railways was fired. In all, Brunel was responsible for building more than 2,600 km/1,600 mi of the permanent railway of the west of England, the Midlands, and South Wales. He also constructed two railway lines in Italy, and acted as adviser on the construction of the Victoria line in Australia and on the East Bengal railway in India.

Brunel's last ship, the Great Eastern, was to remain the largest ship in service until the end of the 19th century.

With over ten times the tonnage of his first ship, it was the first ship to be built with a double iron hull. It was driven by both paddles and a screw propeller. A report of an explosion on board brought on his death.