The life of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Civil Engineer

Brunel, Isambard, 1837-1902Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.8
Word count
1.2M words
Chapters
123

Tags

English Originals General BiographyIndustrial Technology InventionBritish EngineeringRailway and BridgeCareer StrivingTechnology PioneersInspirational BiographyPragmatismIndustrial RevolutionVictorian Era

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The life of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Civil Engineer by Isambard BrunelAuthor: Brunel, Isambard, 1837-1902,Language: English, Class: TA: Technology: Engineering and Civil engineering, Release Date: Oct 28, 2012

Editor's review

Written by Isambard Brunel's son, this biography focuses on the life and engineering career of the renowned Victorian civil engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Its distinctive feature is that the author observes from the perspective of both a relative and a fellow professional, giving the narrative an intimate tone while preserving extensive detail on railway, bridge, and ship projects, making it useful to readers of engineering and industrial history. As a public-domain Project Gutenberg e-book, it is fully searchable and suited to biographical research, extracts on technical history, and English reading practice. Note that a biography by a family member inevitably carries a defensive and celebratory tendency, so readers should cross-check it against other historical sources; the text is also in English and dates from an early period, with many technical terms and long sentences, so a slower reading pace is advisable.

Who it's for

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Reading tips

  1. Begin with the table of contents and chapter titles, then select projects of interest such as railways and ships for close reading.
  2. Prepare a short glossary of engineering terms and add to it as you read to ease the difficulty of long sentences.
  3. Check key events against other independent sources and remain alert to the celebratory tendency of a family biography.
  4. Read selectively by project theme rather than straight through from beginning to end.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

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FAQ

What is the relationship between the author and the subject? The author, Isambard Brunel, is the son of the subject, Isambard Kingdom Brunel. The book therefore has a family perspective, with an intimate tone and rich detail, but its assessment of the subject may be defensive; readers should maintain a critical awareness of the sources.
Does the book contain technical drawings or illustrations? The information only states that it is a public-domain Project Gutenberg e-book and does not mention illustrations or drawings. Layout may differ across electronic editions, so it is advisable to check the table of contents and file notes after downloading to see whether it meets your needs for images.
How difficult is the English, and what level is it suitable for? The text dates from the late nineteenth to early twentieth century, with many long sentences and engineering terms, so the English is relatively difficult. It suits readers with college-level English reading ability who are willing to look up terminology; beginners may prefer to read chapter summaries before tackling the main text.

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About the author

Brunel, Isambard, 1837-1902 Author · British · 1837–1902

Isambard Brunel (1837–1902) was a British civil engineer from the Brunel engineering family, who took part in railway and harbour construction. Public information about his life and education is limited; what can be confirmed is chiefly his role as an engineer and biographer. His biography of his father, the celebrated engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, The Life of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Civil Engineer, is the only work of his held in the collection. Centred on engineering practice, the book recounts his father's work on railways, bridges and harbours, and combines technical record with family biography. It offers relatively direct documentary reference for the study of nineteenth-century British civil engineering history, and reflects the author's familiarity with, and respect for, the engineering profession.