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A Remarkable Father-Son Team
Isambard Kingdom Brunel is probably the most famous engineer of the nineteenth century. He may have been the best. Or not. Another lesser-known Brunel is in the running for that title; his father, Marc Isambard Brunel is.
“The Brunels, Father and Son,” by Anthony Burton, is a joint biography of two remarkable men. Burton does a compare-and-contrast on the pair. He concludes it is hard to say who was better.
Isambard Kingdom was best known for building the Great Western Railroad (with its six-foot gauge) and three pioneer steamships, Great Western, Great Britain, and Great Eastern. Marc Isambard’s signature accomplishment was the Thames Tunnel, which baffled earlier engineers. He is also known for pioneering mass-production techniques, most notably blocks and army boots.
Voted the 
In addition to the tunnel and various bridges, Brunel designed the world’s largest ships upon launching. The Great Western (1837) was the first steamship with regular transatlantic service. The Great Britain (1843) was the first large ship driven by a screw propeller. The Great Eastern (1859) with sails, paddle wheels, and a screw propeller, was the largest ship for 40 years and laid the first successful transatlantic cable. As transportation devices, his steamships are no longer in service, but his greatest success is still in use today.