Brunel’s Great Eastern
p. There’s a new series on BBC2 called [“Seven Wonders of the Industrial World”:http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/societyculture/industrialisation/sevenwonders_03.shtml], in which the engineering marvels of the 19th Century are documented. Last week’s episode was particularly interesting as it was about an engineering feat that doesn’t survive today: Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s huge ship, the ‘Great Eastern’.
p. It’s probably fair to say that the general consenus on hearing Brunel’s proposal for the Great Eastern was that he had finally lost his marbles (or ball bearings). The plans were for a truly colossal ship: 700 ft long, carrying 4,000 passengers, and requiring 200 stokers to fuel the engines. It was to be made of iron, and though Brunel had already successfully designed an iron ship—the SS Great Britain—it was still a technology in its infancy. People thought that it would sink, snap in two when it hit the first big wave, or otherwise prove a total disaster, but Brunel had such confidence in himself that he managed to persuade the Eastern Steam Navigation Company to finance the project.
