Available online
Description
Isambard Kingdom Brunel was perhaps the most energetic and inspired engineer of the nineteenth century. But how great was he? As the contemporary press put it: "If great engineering consists i...n effecting huge monuments at enormous cost to shareholders, then Mr. Brunel is surely the greatest of engineers." We look at Brunel's rise and fall in the building of the Great Western Railway and focus on a technological oddity... the South Devon Atmospheric railway, which was hoped to supply a clean, silent, fast rain service, but became the single most expensive failure in engineering history. In the last ten minutes Peter Evans speaks to a contemporary inventor Professor Eric Laithwaite about the process of scientific and engineering invention.
Isambard Kingdom Brunel was perhaps the most energetic and inspired engineer of the nineteenth century. But how great was he? As the contemporary press put it: "If great engineering consists i...n effecting huge monuments at enormous cost to shareholders, then Mr. Brunel is surely the greatest of engineers." We look at Brunel's rise and fall in the building of the Great Western Railway and focus on a technological oddity... the South Devon Atmospheric railway, which was hoped to supply a clean, silent, fast rain service, but became the single most expensive failure in engineering history. In the last ten minutes Peter Evans speaks to a contemporary inventor Professor Eric Laithwaite about the process of scientific and engineering invention.
| Series: | Generals of the revolution; Series 2 |
|---|---|
| Episode | 5 |
| First transmission date: | 1994-03-06 |
| Published: | 1994 |
| Rights Statement: | Rights owned or controlled by The Open University |
| Restrictions on use: | This material can be used in accordance with The Open University conditions of use. A link to the conditions can be found at the bottom of all OUDA web pages. |
| Duration: | 00:28:45 |
| + Show more... | |
| Producer: | Dick Taylor |
| Contributor: | Peter Evans |
| Publisher: | BBC Open University |
| Keyword(s): | Gauge War; George Stephenson; Great Western Railway; Isambard Kingdom Brunel; Robert Stephenson |
| Master spool number: | 93YT0172 |
| Production number: | T004_05 |
| Available to public: | no |
