Isambard Kingdom Brunel: The Second Greatest Brit of All Time
Less than five percent separates Isambard Kingdom Brunel from Winston Churchill in a survey about the greatest Britons, making him the second greatest Briton of all time ("The Greatest Britons List"). Isambard Kingdom Brunel was a British engineer who designed and built many important constructs. He was a dedicated engineer who showed his versatility through his numerous projects and designs, including railways, steamships, docks, tunnels, bridges, and a hospital for the Crimea war. “Brunel’s work was remarkable for its wide ranging scope” ("Biography Isambard Kingdom Brunel"). Isambard Kingdom Brunel is an inspirational Briton because he was a great engineer who helped lead Britain through the early Industrial Revolution.
Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s career was greatly influenced by his father. Isambard was born on April 9, 1806 in Portsmouth, United Kingdom. He had two older sisters and a mother named Sophia Kingdom. “His father Mark was a French engineer who fled France during the revolution” ("Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806"). Mark, a fairly successful engineer, was the reason and inspiration of Isambard’s engineering career choice. In preparation, Brunel received an education in both England and France. When Brunel was 16, he started working with his father as an engineer, and at the age of 20, he was working on his first notable project, the Thames Tunnel. It was during the digging of the Thames Tunnel where Isambard encountered a near death experience that would have prevented his later achievements. Although using an innovative tunnel shield, the tunnel collapsed and killed two workers and almost killed Brunel too. ("Biography Isambard Kingdom Brunel"). He marrie...
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...me anything, it is that to be great, truly great, you must give 100 percent of your effort, time, enthusiasm, passion, and interest. To set yourself apart, you must try to make things as great as possible. Isambard Kingdom Brunel, in my opinion, is the Greatest Briton of all time.
Works Cited
"Biography Isambard Kingdom Brunel." Biography Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Jan. 2014. .
"The Greatest Britons List." Biography Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Jan. 2014. .
"Isambard Kingdom Brunel." BBC. BBC, 2014. Web. 21 Jan. 2014. .
"Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806 - 1859)." BBC. BBC, 2014. Web. 15 Jan. 2014. .
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