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Brunel before the launching of the Great Eastern.
Brunel before the launching of the Great Eastern.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel, FRS (9 April 1806 – 15 September 1859) (IPA: [ˈɪzəmbɑ(ɹ)d ˈkɪŋdəm brʊˈnɛl]), was a British engineer. He is best known for the creation of the Great Western Railway, a series of famous steamships, and numerous important bridges.

Though Brunel's projects were not always successful, they often contained innovative solutions to long-standing engineering problems. During his short career, Brunel achieved 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 ocean-going iron ship, which was at the time also the largest ship ever built.

Brunel suffered several years of ill health, with kidney problems, before succumbing to a stroke at the age of 53. Brunel was said to smoke up to 40 cigars a day, and get by on only four hours of sleep a night.

In 2006, a major programme of events celebrated his life and work on the bicentenary of his birth under the name Brunel 200.

The son of engineer Sir Marc Isambard Brunel and Sophia, born Kingdom, Brunel was born in Portsmouth, Hampshire, on 9 April 1806.


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