Happy Birthday Isambard

April 9th is Isambard Kingdom Brunel's birthday.

Brunel was one of the greatest of the nineteenth century engineers, executing engineering challenges that were years ahead of his time.

At least two biographies have been written about him. One, by Tom Rolt, tends towards the glorification of his life. Another, by Adrian Vaughan, is subtitled "Engineering Knight Errant?", and dismantles the earlier image for a more realistic view. Both make interesting reading.

It was raining and overcast in Wiltshire this morning, otherwise the legend of Box Tunnel and the sunrise could have been examined in greater detail. The legend goes that on April 9th, and only on April 9th, sunrise can be seen by looking through the tunnel from the west portal towards the east. Oh, the tunnel is 2 miles long and falls at a gradient of 1 in 100, by the way.

The infamous television broadcaster, Jeremy Clarkson, gave a very interesting account of Brunel in the programme "100 Greatest Britons" lately. Brunel came 2nd behind Winston Churchill.

Brunel was a serious workaholic, and died early for it. And although a great Civil Engineer (who also designed transcontinental steamships!) his concepts for workable steam locomotion were woefully inadequate. That aside, his efforts to make the World a smaller place can still be seen today.

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