136 — Future Brunels? Learning from the Generation that Transformed the World. A Conversation with Dr. Helen Doe

The title of this episode is "Future Brunels? Learning from the Generation That Transformed the World." For my German listeners: this episode is a perfect complement to Episode 128.

The first half of the 19th century was a time of remarkable transformation, with England as a major driving force behind changes that improved all aspects of our lives. In this episode, I explore the achievements of one key figure of this era, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, well-known in England but hardly recognized outside of it—a true shame. I’m confident you’ll agree with me by the end of this episode.

However, the purpose of this episode isn’t just to travel back to the 19th century but to draw inspiration. What can we learn from this extraordinary generation of engineers and entrepreneurs for our time and the next generation?  

Dr. Helen Doe is a historian, author, and lecturer. Her books range from maritime to RAF history. It is people, often the ordinary and sometimes unsung heroes and heroines, who attract her attention. She has published books on the economic and social aspects of Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s great ships. The First Atlantic Liner featured the stories of the passengers and crew on Brunel’s first ship, which linked Bristol, Liverpool, and New York. This was followed by a book on the SS Great Britain. She has appeared on many Radio 4 programmes and on TV. She is a Fellow of the University of Exeter, where she previously taught a range of courses and supervised postgraduates. She is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society (FRHistS) and Chair of the British Commission for Maritime History. Helen was for many years a trustee of the SS Great Britain and, in 2018, was appointed as a member of the Council of Experts for National Historic Ships, a government advisory body.

I personally became aware of Helen when I visited the extraordinary museum in Bristol that showcases Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s second ship, the SS Great Britain. We will talk about this in our conversation.

The UK offers a number of extraordinary museums. The aforementioned museum in Bristol is significant, but also important in terms of maritime history and definitely worth a visit is the museum in Portsmouth.

We start the conversation with a discussion of the three most important ships of Brunel: the Great Western, the Great Britain, and the Great Eastern. What was Brunel’s influence on the important warships of the time, The Rattler and The Warrior? What about his two lesser-known ships that ran the mail route to Australia, the Victoria and Adelaide? Why were these ships so important, not only in terms of maritime history?  

“Communications that would take months sometimes were now reduced to minutes.”

How so?

Construction of the Thames Tunnel with the patented shield

But to go back to the beginning: Isambard Brunel’s career started by helping his father with the construction of the Thames Tunnel. It continued with the Great Western Railway. Over his lifetime, he built 1,600 km of railway tracks and managed international railway construction projects around the world. More than 100 bridges were constructed by Brunel, many still in operation today, nearly 200 years later.  He also played a role in the World Exhibition of 1851 and the construction and relocation of the Crystal Palace.

But let’s take one step back: What happened from 1700 to 1900 that triggered this rapid and unprecedented technological, societal, and commercial progress? This was not only Brunel but a league of extraordinary gentlemen, so to speak.  

What was Brunel’s background, why is it important, and how did his father influence him? Why is it relevant that Isambard was trained as a clockmaker?  Was this a cosmopolitan time and family, contrary to the assumptions some might have of the Victorian and Georgian eras?

Many of these engineers and entrepreneurs, like Brunel and Joseph Paxton, were self-made men. What role did mentoring, education, and the open exchange of ideas among these men play? What were Stevenson and Brunel’s views on patents? We joke that Brunel would have been a fan of open-source software.

The Victorian era offered an ideal of upward mobility that these people used for their own advancement and to the benefit of society. The work of this society, this engineer-driven progress, laid the foundations of our modern lives. Moreover, most of these men were not limited to one domain. They were interested in and mastered all sorts of problems:

“Their minds were so flexible, they just wanted to try out new things.”

The breadth of Brunel’s competence is evident in many successful undertakings; one astounding example is the construction of a hospital for the Crimean War—or was it rather the invention of IKEA?

“Engineers solve problems, no matter what they were”

How did people like Brunel manage to get so much done in their lives, considering the time and the fact that he died rather young at the age of only 53?

“You wonder how that man had any spare time at all when you line up all his projects.”

We then discussed who financed all of these enterprises and who took the risks? Also, what is the difference between people who do things and people who mainly talk about things?  

“Marine engines were limited in their efficiency and had to carry so much coal that all the experts said: ‘Look, it’s not possible to make a ship big enough to take it across the Atlantic.’”

And, as so often, many experts were wrong again. The Great Western was highly successful, and there was a desire to build an identical sister ship, but as so often, Brunel had other ideas. Why not build the first large iron ship? The Great Britain!  These ships also represented luxury travel. What did this mean in combination with this entirely new technology?  How did the “Tripadvisor reviews” of the 19th century work?

They experiences an age of transformation: everything changed, and yet trust in skilled people who took enormous personal risks enabled this transformation that is closer to a miracle than evolutionary improvements.  

We learn that innovation is unpredictable. Sometimes the inventor does not realise he created something that transforms the world, and sometimes he believes in an invention that ultimately fails. Progress thus requires experimentation, risk-taking, and patience.

What can we and our younger generation learn from these people who transformed our world?

“Using the past to inspire the young of the future?”

Other Episodes

• Episode 129: Rules, A Conversation with Prof. Lorraine Daston
• Episode 128: Aufbruch in die Moderne — Der Mann, der die Welt erfindet!
• Episode 126: Schwarz gekleidet im dunklen Kohlekeller. Ein Gespräch mit Axel Bojanowski
• Episode 125: Ist Fortschritt möglich? Ideen als Widergänger über Generationen
• Episode 118: Science and Decision Making under Uncertainty, A Conversation with Prof. John Ioannidis
• Episode 110: The Shock of the Old, a conversation with David Edgerton
• Episode 107: How to Organise Complex Societies? A Conversation with Johan Norberg
• Episode 74: Apocalype Always
• Episode 71: Stagnation oder Fortschritt — eine Reflexion an der Geschichte eines Lebens
• Episode 65: Getting Nothing Done — Teil 2
• Episode 64: Getting Nothing Done — Teil 1

References

• Website of Dr Helen Doe
• Heleln Doe, The First Atlantic Liner, Brunel's Great Western Steamship, Amberley (2020)
• Helen Doe, SS Great Britain, Amberley (2022)
• Steven Brindle, Brunel: The Man Who Built the World, W&N (2006)
• Brunel Biography by his son: Isambard Brunel B. C. I., The Life of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Civil Engineer (1870)
• National Museum of the Royal Navy at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard
• Museum in Bristol / SS Great Britain (“Being Brunel”) 
• https://www.ssgreatbritain.org/collections-and-research/
• The Future Brunels Program
• I. K. Brunel's Crimean War Hospital, C. G. Merridew (2014)
• Kate Colquhoun, A Thing in Disguise, The Visionary Life of Joseph Paxton, Fourth Estate (2012)