This is the
talk page for discussing improvements to the
Isambard Kingdom Brunel article. This is not a forum for general discussion of the article's subject. |
Article policies
|
Find sources: Google ( books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs) · FENS · JSTOR · TWL |
Archives: 1 |
This article is written in British English, which has its own spelling conventions (colour, travelled, centre, defence, artefact, analyse) and some terms that are used in it may be different or absent from other varieties of English. According to the relevant style guide, this should not be changed without broad consensus. |
Isambard Kingdom Brunel is a former featured article. Please see the links under Article milestones below for its original nomination page (for older articles, check the nomination archive) and why it was removed. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
This article appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page as Today's featured article on March 23, 2006. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
|
This
level-4 vital article is rated B-class on Wikipedia's
content assessment scale. It is of interest to the following WikiProjects: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The article claims that the RN commissioned Brunel to carry out the famous trial of HMS Rattler vs. HMS Alecto to settle the paddle vs. screw argument. However the RN's commission was in 1844 to study different forms of screw propeller and the paddle comparison wasn't until the following year. Is there any reference to support Brunel being involved with this later trial too? Surely Brunel had already made his own mind up and would hardly have been regarded as an impartial judge?
It's also worth noting that the Great Britain had already been launched before both of these trials. Brunel's own die was already cast. Andy Dingley ( talk) 02:47, 23 July 2009 (UTC)
There used to be a pub, in Bristol, called 'The Great Engineer' - the pub sign was of Brunel. The address was Goodhind Street, Bristol - BS5 0ST. I don't know whether the pub is till there [possibly knocked down, with flats built on the site]. Can any one confirm. Is the [former??] existence worth mentioning? Autochthony wrote 2050z 4th December 2009. 86.151.60.238 ( talk) 20:48, 4 December 2009 (UTC)
There was also a pub, at the bottom of the Temple Meads incline in Temple Gate House called The Reckless Engineer and later this was changed to the Isambard. Think the Holiday Inn Express has now comsumed the site. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 62.6.149.27 ( talk) 15:57, 12 January 2010 (UTC)
No, "The Reckless Engineer" is still where you describe. I don't know if it was ever renamed, but if it was the owners must have thought again. The Holiday Inn is in part of the same block, but is separate. Redcliffe maven ( talk) 19:32, 11 September 2013 (UTC)
Whilst I'm not sure enough work has been done to restore Featured Article Status, I think the article is at least a Good Article. Does a more involved editor want to nominate it. If it fails the GA nomination, then it's still at least B class, and I've rated it as such for Wikiproject Bristol with this edit NullofWest Fill the Void 15:28, 14 November 2009 (UTC)
Did he die or did the gauge? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dr.queso ( talk • contribs) 05:10, 29 May 2010 (UTC)
The last para of the article implies that Brunel´s name was only added to the bridge supports in 1959 but in fact it was there from the start. See old photos e.g. at
http://www.ssplprints.com/lowres/43/main/50/129546.jpg
and
http://mikes.railhistory.railfan.net/imfile/02660.jpg
Thanks
81.86.167.71 ( talk) 12:14, 22 August 2010 (UTC)
Tim Roberts
The edit on the lettering added in 1859 following Brunels death are still not clear, it still reads as if his name and date 1859 were added in 1959, this is not correct. In a GWR poster of 1945 the lettering has been illustrated. http://www.ssplprints.com/image/85547/anrooy-anton-abraham-van-the-royal-albert-bridge-saltash-gwr-poster-1945 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.219.189.5 ( talk) 21:01, 10 January 2013 (UTC)
In the Thursday Next books, which are more or less based out of Swindon, a character named Isambard Kingdom Buñuel makes small but frequent appearances as an eccentric and brilliant book engineer. Something worth including? I was shocked and amused to come across this article and find that the character was inspired by a real person. 66.108.94.198 ( talk) 21:51, 17 September 2010 (UTC)
The section at the bottom of the page, Works of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, is buried far too deep, in my opinion. I rarely scroll beyond the See Also′s, so I went back to Google when I couldn't find the list I was looking for. It turns out there's a Category page called Works of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, too, but it's alphabetical and doesn't show any dates. Plus I can't seem to link to it properly. Can we have a new section 10 (before the See Also′s) with a complete chronological list? I may do it myself, so excuse me if I duplicate some text that's already there...
nagualdesign (
talk) 00:57, 14 October 2010 (UTC)
Brunel was not just a civil engineer, but also nautical and mechanical. The first paragraph should be modified. DesmondW ( talk) 18:42, 25 January 2011 (UTC)
It can't possibly have been part of Brunel's vision (in the 1830s) for the Great Western Railway that passengers should cross the Atlantic on the 'Great Eastern', not built until the late '50s! I changed it to 'Great Western', which was contemporary. 86.181.115.142 ( talk) 13:23, 9 May 2011 (UTC)
Its a useful and appealing addition, but it really creates problems in the article with sandwiching of text (see Wikipedia:Images): at one point on my display there is the infobox, the timeline and a picture squashing the text. I have tried various options to sort the problem but none seems to work. Does anyone have any suggestions?-- SabreBD ( talk) 23:21, 24 June 2011 (UTC)
{| align="right"
{| style="float: right; clear: right;"
Perhaps we should mention that I.K. Brunel is a major figure in the alternative-history novel The Difference Engine. He succeeds the fictionalized Lord Byron as prime minister. -- Christofurio ( talk) 00:12, 11 February 2012 (UTC)
Born 9 April 1806 Weybridge, England... Or The son of French civil engineer Sir Marc Isambard Brunel and Sophia Kingdom Brunel, Isambard Kingdom Brunel was born on 9 April 1806 in Portsmouth, Hampshire. ...Which is it, as currently this article contradicts itself. 92.233.49.173 ( talk) 18:21, 16 October 2012 (UTC)
Date of birth, we have conflicting dates...more info here http://www.astro.com/astro-databank/Brunel,_Isambard_Kingdom Veryscarymary ( talk) 16:00, 30 October 2012 (UTC)
I think the song "Ballad of the Great Eastern" on Sting's latest album is about Brunel isn't it? Maybe that should be added. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.179.39.132 ( talk) 10:04, 28 September 2013 (UTC)
Having recently read Rolt's biography, I might start working on this article to see if I can't get the article back to FA status. Initially, I'll use Rolt and the 1870 biography to write the article before checking with a third book. Anyone have any suggestions as to authoritative sources?
I'll open a Peer Review when I'm done.
Edgepedia (
talk) 12:27, 19 April 2014 (UTC)
There's some recent edit-warring (on both sides) to swap between describing him as either British or English in the lead. Is there any clear consensus as to which?
We've seen regular edit warring over Richard Trevithick and whether he was (he obviously was) "Cornish" or English, when Cornish is an officially recognised minority within Britain. Similar Charles Parsons is importantly Anglo-Irish, but this was edit-warred away to British. In Brunel's case though, "British" is as much as matters. He has no special connection to England. He did as much work in Wales as in England – even, importantly, some in Ireland to recover the Great Britain.
So, English or British? Andy Dingley ( talk) 21:18, 26 April 2014 (UTC)
p.s. If we can have Scottish and Welsh, we can logically have English as a nationality. There may or may not in this case be sources to support "English" nationality. Widefox; talk 01:59, 27 April 2014 (UTC)
English isn't a nationality? Jesus, Dingley, have you told the Commonwealth Games organising committee? Lucky you spotted that - it could have been very embarrassing at the opening ceremony. You must point it out to the OED next time they ask you to check over their dictionary in your role of consultant. Better cc FIFA while you're at it. And Wikipedia - that's wrong, as well.
It's only a little while ago you were declaring that "Anglo-Irish" is a nationality, then, a couple of days later, explaining that it's an ethnic group. Any chance of you making your mind up?— Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.255.232.122 ( talk) 08:17, 29 April 2014 (UTC)
There are talks about the Brunel/ GWR track gauge(s) at WT:UK railroads and {RailGauge} talk. - DePiep ( talk) 18:51, 3 June 2014 (UTC)
The Category:Bridges of Isambard Kingdom Brunel has only 18 entries, two of which are not full bridge articles. Surely there must be more Brunel bridges worthy of full articles. Is some editor up to the challenge?-- DThomsen8 ( talk) 20:38, 29 November 2014 (UTC)
The citations were a mixture of types. I've converted all the bare text and bare URL types to templates. There were a number of bare short forms, I've changed then to {{ sfn}}. There were also a few <ref>{{harvnb|...}}</ref> forms which for sake of uniformity I've converted to {{ sfn}}. There are still some short form references using named refs that I'll have a go at tomorrow (it's 23:24 UK time and I'll be off to bed shortly).
Question: after I've finished the tidying, there will be a mixture of in-line citations and short form citations. WP:CITE indicates that there should be only one type on a page, but also warns against changing the citation type without discussion. However "Others will improve the formatting if needed". I propose over the next week to convert all citations to {{ sfn}} with appropriate reference entries. This will:
- any comments or objections? Martin of Sheffield ( talk) 23:27, 13 December 2015 (UTC)
{{
citation}}
(also known as
Citation Style 2), which the article did not previously use - it used a mixture of {{
cite book}}
, {{
cite news}}
, {{
cite web}}
etc. - this is known as
Citation Style 1. CS1 and CS2 should not be mixed on the same page, so I altered all those {{
citation}}
to the most appropriate CS1 template. --
Redrose64 (
talk) 21:32, 14 December 2015 (UTC)The article (at the moment) mentions in its introduction that Brunel developed the SS Great Britain, "the largest ship ever built" when it was launched (with 322 ft). It is a pretty bold claim considering that the page describing the Chinese treasure ships casualy mentions ships ranging between 400 and 600 feet in 15th century China, and as long as 425 feet in 3rd century BC Greece. It is rather difficult to be that sure of the numbers, so shouldn't we play it safe, and call it rather "the largest steamship ever built" or something similar? Since I am not a regular contributor, I leave the matter to your hands. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.67.179.126 ( talk) 20:35, 27 March 2016 (UTC)
I'm not too happy with "Brunel's name is an amalgamation of his parents' names. He inherited the family name of his father, and his middle name is his mother's surname. This was a common name construction for the time". This particular construction was common at other times, up to and including the 20thC. I have no information either way for current trends since 2000. I'm tempted to remove the final sentence, but then we are back to regarding it as special ("unique" as one editor has put it). Alternatively "This was not an uncommon construction, then as now". Any better ideas? Martin of Sheffield ( talk) 10:06, 23 September 2016 (UTC)
Trivial, I know but more than once there have been edits in either direction. According to the OED, 'to orient' is the earlier verb and is still good British English; a structure which has been 'oriented' then has an 'orientation'; UK English seems to regard this as leading (by back-formation) to the verb 'to orientate' (which most UK readers would, I think, tend to use in casual speech) but US English regards that back-formation as a vulgar error. Since there is much to be said on both sides, and 'orient' can't be dismissed as not British English, I have ventured to offend both sides by substituting 'aligned'. I hope that's a blue beret intervention, not a blue helmet one. Rjccumbria ( talk) 18:37, 6 April 2017 (UTC)
Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just modified one external link on Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.
This message was posted before February 2018.
After February 2018, "External links modified" talk page sections are no longer generated or monitored by InternetArchiveBot. No special action is required regarding these talk page notices, other than
regular verification using the archive tool instructions below. Editors
have permission to delete these "External links modified" talk page sections if they want to de-clutter talk pages, but see the
RfC before doing mass systematic removals. This message is updated dynamically through the template {{
source check}}
(last update: 5 June 2024).
Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot ( Report bug) 08:59, 20 May 2017 (UTC)
Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just modified one external link on Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.
This message was posted before February 2018.
After February 2018, "External links modified" talk page sections are no longer generated or monitored by InternetArchiveBot. No special action is required regarding these talk page notices, other than
regular verification using the archive tool instructions below. Editors
have permission to delete these "External links modified" talk page sections if they want to de-clutter talk pages, but see the
RfC before doing mass systematic removals. This message is updated dynamically through the template {{
source check}}
(last update: 5 June 2024).
Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot ( Report bug) 03:45, 17 November 2017 (UTC)
Let me begin by saying that this edit summary is dishonest. I gave three reasons for the removal of name etymology. The first is that the source, cited by Andy Dingley as justification for the reversion of my edit, is a 101-year-old name book that, unsurprisingly, does not even mention the subject of this article. If it were a biography of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, I would figure it is somehow relevant. The second reason is that the subject's father is introduced as Sir Marc Isambard Brunel in the previous sentence, so reiterating that his first name was his father's middle name is an insult to the intelligence of whoever reads this article. The same goes for Kingdom, as his mother is named Sophia Kingdom just two sentences prior. And finally, where have you ever seen this done? Does the article about Barack Hussein Obama explain the etymology of his name(s)? Does the one about Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor? Does any biographer of Isambard Kingdom Brunel mention that his name means "iron-bright" or "iron-axe"? Surtsicna ( talk) 01:16, 22 July 2019 (UTC)
Member of the Council of the Philological Society, London- I find it hard to believe that he wouldn't ask his fellow members to check his work before publication. It certainly states that he was
Assisted by Gyða Pulling of Queen's College, London. -- Redrose64 🌹 ( talk) 19:23, 23 July 2019 (UTC)
Well, seeing that huge name on the bridge, as many millions have, I'd guess people might wonder what "I. K." stands for, not necessarily what the etymology of "Isambard" might be. Just on a slight tangent, do we have any evidence at all that Brunel, or even his father Marc, had any idea of the etymology of their own first names? Perhaps it doesn't matter. Martinevans123 ( talk) 21:27, 24 July 2019 (UTC)
I think it is safe to assume that nobody has ever crossed that bridge and wondered about the etymology of the name Isambard.
When you drag your cursor over "Somerset Bridge," something else--a train station, as I recall--pops up instead. I don't know how to fix that. Land o Dixie ( talk) 16:17, 1 November 2019 (UTC)Dixie Cheek
There are currently at least 8 instances of the word "she" being used to refer to ships. Are these all justified and appropriate? Why don't we just use "it" for an inanimate object like a ship? Martinevans123 ( talk) 21:36, 20 January 2021 (UTC)
Brunel himself missed this initial crossing, having been injured during a fire aboard the ship as she was returning from fitting out in London.it is clear that "she" refers to the ship, and so "he" is inappropriate.
IKB is categorised in 'Great Western Railway people' where he is deliberately ordered under '.'. (I tried to clean the speck off my screen before realising what it was.) I had to go and check why it happened because it looked so weird, with the full stop being smaller than the bullet point. I presume that it is intentional and done to put him at the top of the list. Why? Granted he is very important, but I have found no guidelines about messing about with the surname sort order just to put one person at the top of the list. And if he needs to be so prioritised, wouldn't '1' give a better result?-- Verbarson ( talk) 21:33, 23 March 2021 (UTC)
@ Martinevans123:, I would make two points:
Firstly, {{GWR Locomotives}} (which lists mainly classes, rather than locos, but that's another matter) also lists and links to all the CMEs, counting IKB as the first. Therefore it is appropriate to use this navbar on his article. Perhaps the navbar should be renamed?
Secondly, IKB is not a track gauge either, yet the Track Gauge navbar (/list/article) appears on his article.
-- Verbarson ( talk) 09:00, 24 March 2021 (UTC)
If this is done consistently for all CMEsBrunel was not a CME. The term Chief Mechanical Engineer was not applied to any GWR man until Churchward, and its first use in Britain seems to have been for F.W. Webb on the LNWR, followed by J.A.F. Aspinall on the LYR. Brunel was Engineer of the Great Western Railway, and whilst he concerned himself with many aspects of engineering, it is with what is now known as civil engineering that he is best known. The duties of a CME are normally understood to include the provision and maintenance of locomotives and rolling stock; in these matters, Brunel seems to have only laid down the (very restrictive) general specification for locomotives, leaving the design very much up to the makers. It is Gooch, appointed before the first loco to Brunel's spec had been delivered, who is the first person to whom the title of CME (in its broadest sense) can be applied, although his actual title was Superintendent of Locomotive Engines. -- Redrose64 🌹 ( talk) 23:40, 24 March 2021 (UTC)
This Encyclopaedia Britannica article on Brunel claims at the very end that IKB "worked on the improvement of large guns and designed a floating armoured barge" during the Crimea War. I have never come across any suggestion of this elsewhere. The only link to the Crimean War that I am aware of is the Renkioi Hospital. Does anybody have any evidence of this naval engineering, or even know why such a claim might be made? -- Verbarson ( talk) 17:04, 31 August 2021 (UTC)
I have just discovered Wikipedia:The Wikipedia Library, and within ICE Publishing have found Isambard Junior's book. The formatting is a bit weird, but Chapter 15 'Miscellaneous Works' has accounts of IKB's work on polygonal rifling, wire-wound barrels, and the semi-submerged gun platform, none of which were finished.-- Verbarson ( talk) 23:01, 5 September 2021 (UTC)
"During this time, he also learned fluent French ..." You can learn French (or any language) and speak it fluently but you cannot *learn* fluent French. Haynesta ( talk) 15:25, 28 May 2022 (UTC)
It is appropriate for this article to use British English spelling, but not to enforce it when quoting quoting an American source. [1] What spelling did The American Naturalist print? -- Verbarson talk edits 17:49, 28 June 2022 (UTC)
References
Hello! This is to let editors know that File:Robert Howlett_(Isambard_Kingdom_Brunel_Standing_Before_the_Launching_Chains_of_the_Great_Eastern),_The_Metropolitan_Museum_of_Art_-_restoration1.jpg, a featured picture used in this article, has been selected as the English Wikipedia's picture of the day (POTD) for March 4, 2023. A preview of the POTD is displayed below and can be edited at Template:POTD/2023-03-04. For the greater benefit of readers, any potential improvements or maintenance that could benefit the quality of this article should be done before its scheduled appearance on the Main Page. If you have any concerns, please place a message at Wikipedia talk:Picture of the day. Thank you! — Amakuru ( talk) 18:14, 16 February 2023 (UTC)
Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806–1859) was an English civil and mechanical engineer. The son of French engineer Marc Isambard Brunel, he worked under his father as an assistant engineer on the Thames Tunnel project for several years until he was seriously injured in a flooding incident. During his recuperation he began a design for a bridge in Bristol, which would later be completed as the Clifton Suspension Bridge. In 1833, Brunel was appointed chief engineer of the Great Western Railway, overseeing development of the main line from London to Bristol which was completed in 1841. Brunel's other achievements included the design of the first transatlantic steamship and dockyards. This 1857 photograph, titled Isambard Kingdom Brunel Standing Before the Launching Chains of the Great Eastern, was taken by Robert Howlett. It depicts Brunel standing before a drum of chain used during the launching of SS Great Eastern at Millwall in London; he carries a cigar case, and his boots and trousers are muddy. Photograph credit: Robert Howlett; restored by Bammesk
Recently featured:
|
This is the
talk page for discussing improvements to the
Isambard Kingdom Brunel article. This is not a forum for general discussion of the article's subject. |
Article policies
|
Find sources: Google ( books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs) · FENS · JSTOR · TWL |
Archives: 1 |
This article is written in British English, which has its own spelling conventions (colour, travelled, centre, defence, artefact, analyse) and some terms that are used in it may be different or absent from other varieties of English. According to the relevant style guide, this should not be changed without broad consensus. |
Isambard Kingdom Brunel is a former featured article. Please see the links under Article milestones below for its original nomination page (for older articles, check the nomination archive) and why it was removed. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
This article appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page as Today's featured article on March 23, 2006. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
|
This
level-4 vital article is rated B-class on Wikipedia's
content assessment scale. It is of interest to the following WikiProjects: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The article claims that the RN commissioned Brunel to carry out the famous trial of HMS Rattler vs. HMS Alecto to settle the paddle vs. screw argument. However the RN's commission was in 1844 to study different forms of screw propeller and the paddle comparison wasn't until the following year. Is there any reference to support Brunel being involved with this later trial too? Surely Brunel had already made his own mind up and would hardly have been regarded as an impartial judge?
It's also worth noting that the Great Britain had already been launched before both of these trials. Brunel's own die was already cast. Andy Dingley ( talk) 02:47, 23 July 2009 (UTC)
There used to be a pub, in Bristol, called 'The Great Engineer' - the pub sign was of Brunel. The address was Goodhind Street, Bristol - BS5 0ST. I don't know whether the pub is till there [possibly knocked down, with flats built on the site]. Can any one confirm. Is the [former??] existence worth mentioning? Autochthony wrote 2050z 4th December 2009. 86.151.60.238 ( talk) 20:48, 4 December 2009 (UTC)
There was also a pub, at the bottom of the Temple Meads incline in Temple Gate House called The Reckless Engineer and later this was changed to the Isambard. Think the Holiday Inn Express has now comsumed the site. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 62.6.149.27 ( talk) 15:57, 12 January 2010 (UTC)
No, "The Reckless Engineer" is still where you describe. I don't know if it was ever renamed, but if it was the owners must have thought again. The Holiday Inn is in part of the same block, but is separate. Redcliffe maven ( talk) 19:32, 11 September 2013 (UTC)
Whilst I'm not sure enough work has been done to restore Featured Article Status, I think the article is at least a Good Article. Does a more involved editor want to nominate it. If it fails the GA nomination, then it's still at least B class, and I've rated it as such for Wikiproject Bristol with this edit NullofWest Fill the Void 15:28, 14 November 2009 (UTC)
Did he die or did the gauge? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dr.queso ( talk • contribs) 05:10, 29 May 2010 (UTC)
The last para of the article implies that Brunel´s name was only added to the bridge supports in 1959 but in fact it was there from the start. See old photos e.g. at
http://www.ssplprints.com/lowres/43/main/50/129546.jpg
and
http://mikes.railhistory.railfan.net/imfile/02660.jpg
Thanks
81.86.167.71 ( talk) 12:14, 22 August 2010 (UTC)
Tim Roberts
The edit on the lettering added in 1859 following Brunels death are still not clear, it still reads as if his name and date 1859 were added in 1959, this is not correct. In a GWR poster of 1945 the lettering has been illustrated. http://www.ssplprints.com/image/85547/anrooy-anton-abraham-van-the-royal-albert-bridge-saltash-gwr-poster-1945 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.219.189.5 ( talk) 21:01, 10 January 2013 (UTC)
In the Thursday Next books, which are more or less based out of Swindon, a character named Isambard Kingdom Buñuel makes small but frequent appearances as an eccentric and brilliant book engineer. Something worth including? I was shocked and amused to come across this article and find that the character was inspired by a real person. 66.108.94.198 ( talk) 21:51, 17 September 2010 (UTC)
The section at the bottom of the page, Works of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, is buried far too deep, in my opinion. I rarely scroll beyond the See Also′s, so I went back to Google when I couldn't find the list I was looking for. It turns out there's a Category page called Works of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, too, but it's alphabetical and doesn't show any dates. Plus I can't seem to link to it properly. Can we have a new section 10 (before the See Also′s) with a complete chronological list? I may do it myself, so excuse me if I duplicate some text that's already there...
nagualdesign (
talk) 00:57, 14 October 2010 (UTC)
Brunel was not just a civil engineer, but also nautical and mechanical. The first paragraph should be modified. DesmondW ( talk) 18:42, 25 January 2011 (UTC)
It can't possibly have been part of Brunel's vision (in the 1830s) for the Great Western Railway that passengers should cross the Atlantic on the 'Great Eastern', not built until the late '50s! I changed it to 'Great Western', which was contemporary. 86.181.115.142 ( talk) 13:23, 9 May 2011 (UTC)
Its a useful and appealing addition, but it really creates problems in the article with sandwiching of text (see Wikipedia:Images): at one point on my display there is the infobox, the timeline and a picture squashing the text. I have tried various options to sort the problem but none seems to work. Does anyone have any suggestions?-- SabreBD ( talk) 23:21, 24 June 2011 (UTC)
{| align="right"
{| style="float: right; clear: right;"
Perhaps we should mention that I.K. Brunel is a major figure in the alternative-history novel The Difference Engine. He succeeds the fictionalized Lord Byron as prime minister. -- Christofurio ( talk) 00:12, 11 February 2012 (UTC)
Born 9 April 1806 Weybridge, England... Or The son of French civil engineer Sir Marc Isambard Brunel and Sophia Kingdom Brunel, Isambard Kingdom Brunel was born on 9 April 1806 in Portsmouth, Hampshire. ...Which is it, as currently this article contradicts itself. 92.233.49.173 ( talk) 18:21, 16 October 2012 (UTC)
Date of birth, we have conflicting dates...more info here http://www.astro.com/astro-databank/Brunel,_Isambard_Kingdom Veryscarymary ( talk) 16:00, 30 October 2012 (UTC)
I think the song "Ballad of the Great Eastern" on Sting's latest album is about Brunel isn't it? Maybe that should be added. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.179.39.132 ( talk) 10:04, 28 September 2013 (UTC)
Having recently read Rolt's biography, I might start working on this article to see if I can't get the article back to FA status. Initially, I'll use Rolt and the 1870 biography to write the article before checking with a third book. Anyone have any suggestions as to authoritative sources?
I'll open a Peer Review when I'm done.
Edgepedia (
talk) 12:27, 19 April 2014 (UTC)
There's some recent edit-warring (on both sides) to swap between describing him as either British or English in the lead. Is there any clear consensus as to which?
We've seen regular edit warring over Richard Trevithick and whether he was (he obviously was) "Cornish" or English, when Cornish is an officially recognised minority within Britain. Similar Charles Parsons is importantly Anglo-Irish, but this was edit-warred away to British. In Brunel's case though, "British" is as much as matters. He has no special connection to England. He did as much work in Wales as in England – even, importantly, some in Ireland to recover the Great Britain.
So, English or British? Andy Dingley ( talk) 21:18, 26 April 2014 (UTC)
p.s. If we can have Scottish and Welsh, we can logically have English as a nationality. There may or may not in this case be sources to support "English" nationality. Widefox; talk 01:59, 27 April 2014 (UTC)
English isn't a nationality? Jesus, Dingley, have you told the Commonwealth Games organising committee? Lucky you spotted that - it could have been very embarrassing at the opening ceremony. You must point it out to the OED next time they ask you to check over their dictionary in your role of consultant. Better cc FIFA while you're at it. And Wikipedia - that's wrong, as well.
It's only a little while ago you were declaring that "Anglo-Irish" is a nationality, then, a couple of days later, explaining that it's an ethnic group. Any chance of you making your mind up?— Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.255.232.122 ( talk) 08:17, 29 April 2014 (UTC)
There are talks about the Brunel/ GWR track gauge(s) at WT:UK railroads and {RailGauge} talk. - DePiep ( talk) 18:51, 3 June 2014 (UTC)
The Category:Bridges of Isambard Kingdom Brunel has only 18 entries, two of which are not full bridge articles. Surely there must be more Brunel bridges worthy of full articles. Is some editor up to the challenge?-- DThomsen8 ( talk) 20:38, 29 November 2014 (UTC)
The citations were a mixture of types. I've converted all the bare text and bare URL types to templates. There were a number of bare short forms, I've changed then to {{ sfn}}. There were also a few <ref>{{harvnb|...}}</ref> forms which for sake of uniformity I've converted to {{ sfn}}. There are still some short form references using named refs that I'll have a go at tomorrow (it's 23:24 UK time and I'll be off to bed shortly).
Question: after I've finished the tidying, there will be a mixture of in-line citations and short form citations. WP:CITE indicates that there should be only one type on a page, but also warns against changing the citation type without discussion. However "Others will improve the formatting if needed". I propose over the next week to convert all citations to {{ sfn}} with appropriate reference entries. This will:
- any comments or objections? Martin of Sheffield ( talk) 23:27, 13 December 2015 (UTC)
{{
citation}}
(also known as
Citation Style 2), which the article did not previously use - it used a mixture of {{
cite book}}
, {{
cite news}}
, {{
cite web}}
etc. - this is known as
Citation Style 1. CS1 and CS2 should not be mixed on the same page, so I altered all those {{
citation}}
to the most appropriate CS1 template. --
Redrose64 (
talk) 21:32, 14 December 2015 (UTC)The article (at the moment) mentions in its introduction that Brunel developed the SS Great Britain, "the largest ship ever built" when it was launched (with 322 ft). It is a pretty bold claim considering that the page describing the Chinese treasure ships casualy mentions ships ranging between 400 and 600 feet in 15th century China, and as long as 425 feet in 3rd century BC Greece. It is rather difficult to be that sure of the numbers, so shouldn't we play it safe, and call it rather "the largest steamship ever built" or something similar? Since I am not a regular contributor, I leave the matter to your hands. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.67.179.126 ( talk) 20:35, 27 March 2016 (UTC)
I'm not too happy with "Brunel's name is an amalgamation of his parents' names. He inherited the family name of his father, and his middle name is his mother's surname. This was a common name construction for the time". This particular construction was common at other times, up to and including the 20thC. I have no information either way for current trends since 2000. I'm tempted to remove the final sentence, but then we are back to regarding it as special ("unique" as one editor has put it). Alternatively "This was not an uncommon construction, then as now". Any better ideas? Martin of Sheffield ( talk) 10:06, 23 September 2016 (UTC)
Trivial, I know but more than once there have been edits in either direction. According to the OED, 'to orient' is the earlier verb and is still good British English; a structure which has been 'oriented' then has an 'orientation'; UK English seems to regard this as leading (by back-formation) to the verb 'to orientate' (which most UK readers would, I think, tend to use in casual speech) but US English regards that back-formation as a vulgar error. Since there is much to be said on both sides, and 'orient' can't be dismissed as not British English, I have ventured to offend both sides by substituting 'aligned'. I hope that's a blue beret intervention, not a blue helmet one. Rjccumbria ( talk) 18:37, 6 April 2017 (UTC)
Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just modified one external link on Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.
This message was posted before February 2018.
After February 2018, "External links modified" talk page sections are no longer generated or monitored by InternetArchiveBot. No special action is required regarding these talk page notices, other than
regular verification using the archive tool instructions below. Editors
have permission to delete these "External links modified" talk page sections if they want to de-clutter talk pages, but see the
RfC before doing mass systematic removals. This message is updated dynamically through the template {{
source check}}
(last update: 5 June 2024).
Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot ( Report bug) 08:59, 20 May 2017 (UTC)
Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just modified one external link on Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.
This message was posted before February 2018.
After February 2018, "External links modified" talk page sections are no longer generated or monitored by InternetArchiveBot. No special action is required regarding these talk page notices, other than
regular verification using the archive tool instructions below. Editors
have permission to delete these "External links modified" talk page sections if they want to de-clutter talk pages, but see the
RfC before doing mass systematic removals. This message is updated dynamically through the template {{
source check}}
(last update: 5 June 2024).
Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot ( Report bug) 03:45, 17 November 2017 (UTC)
Let me begin by saying that this edit summary is dishonest. I gave three reasons for the removal of name etymology. The first is that the source, cited by Andy Dingley as justification for the reversion of my edit, is a 101-year-old name book that, unsurprisingly, does not even mention the subject of this article. If it were a biography of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, I would figure it is somehow relevant. The second reason is that the subject's father is introduced as Sir Marc Isambard Brunel in the previous sentence, so reiterating that his first name was his father's middle name is an insult to the intelligence of whoever reads this article. The same goes for Kingdom, as his mother is named Sophia Kingdom just two sentences prior. And finally, where have you ever seen this done? Does the article about Barack Hussein Obama explain the etymology of his name(s)? Does the one about Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor? Does any biographer of Isambard Kingdom Brunel mention that his name means "iron-bright" or "iron-axe"? Surtsicna ( talk) 01:16, 22 July 2019 (UTC)
Member of the Council of the Philological Society, London- I find it hard to believe that he wouldn't ask his fellow members to check his work before publication. It certainly states that he was
Assisted by Gyða Pulling of Queen's College, London. -- Redrose64 🌹 ( talk) 19:23, 23 July 2019 (UTC)
Well, seeing that huge name on the bridge, as many millions have, I'd guess people might wonder what "I. K." stands for, not necessarily what the etymology of "Isambard" might be. Just on a slight tangent, do we have any evidence at all that Brunel, or even his father Marc, had any idea of the etymology of their own first names? Perhaps it doesn't matter. Martinevans123 ( talk) 21:27, 24 July 2019 (UTC)
I think it is safe to assume that nobody has ever crossed that bridge and wondered about the etymology of the name Isambard.
When you drag your cursor over "Somerset Bridge," something else--a train station, as I recall--pops up instead. I don't know how to fix that. Land o Dixie ( talk) 16:17, 1 November 2019 (UTC)Dixie Cheek
There are currently at least 8 instances of the word "she" being used to refer to ships. Are these all justified and appropriate? Why don't we just use "it" for an inanimate object like a ship? Martinevans123 ( talk) 21:36, 20 January 2021 (UTC)
Brunel himself missed this initial crossing, having been injured during a fire aboard the ship as she was returning from fitting out in London.it is clear that "she" refers to the ship, and so "he" is inappropriate.
IKB is categorised in 'Great Western Railway people' where he is deliberately ordered under '.'. (I tried to clean the speck off my screen before realising what it was.) I had to go and check why it happened because it looked so weird, with the full stop being smaller than the bullet point. I presume that it is intentional and done to put him at the top of the list. Why? Granted he is very important, but I have found no guidelines about messing about with the surname sort order just to put one person at the top of the list. And if he needs to be so prioritised, wouldn't '1' give a better result?-- Verbarson ( talk) 21:33, 23 March 2021 (UTC)
@ Martinevans123:, I would make two points:
Firstly, {{GWR Locomotives}} (which lists mainly classes, rather than locos, but that's another matter) also lists and links to all the CMEs, counting IKB as the first. Therefore it is appropriate to use this navbar on his article. Perhaps the navbar should be renamed?
Secondly, IKB is not a track gauge either, yet the Track Gauge navbar (/list/article) appears on his article.
-- Verbarson ( talk) 09:00, 24 March 2021 (UTC)
If this is done consistently for all CMEsBrunel was not a CME. The term Chief Mechanical Engineer was not applied to any GWR man until Churchward, and its first use in Britain seems to have been for F.W. Webb on the LNWR, followed by J.A.F. Aspinall on the LYR. Brunel was Engineer of the Great Western Railway, and whilst he concerned himself with many aspects of engineering, it is with what is now known as civil engineering that he is best known. The duties of a CME are normally understood to include the provision and maintenance of locomotives and rolling stock; in these matters, Brunel seems to have only laid down the (very restrictive) general specification for locomotives, leaving the design very much up to the makers. It is Gooch, appointed before the first loco to Brunel's spec had been delivered, who is the first person to whom the title of CME (in its broadest sense) can be applied, although his actual title was Superintendent of Locomotive Engines. -- Redrose64 🌹 ( talk) 23:40, 24 March 2021 (UTC)
This Encyclopaedia Britannica article on Brunel claims at the very end that IKB "worked on the improvement of large guns and designed a floating armoured barge" during the Crimea War. I have never come across any suggestion of this elsewhere. The only link to the Crimean War that I am aware of is the Renkioi Hospital. Does anybody have any evidence of this naval engineering, or even know why such a claim might be made? -- Verbarson ( talk) 17:04, 31 August 2021 (UTC)
I have just discovered Wikipedia:The Wikipedia Library, and within ICE Publishing have found Isambard Junior's book. The formatting is a bit weird, but Chapter 15 'Miscellaneous Works' has accounts of IKB's work on polygonal rifling, wire-wound barrels, and the semi-submerged gun platform, none of which were finished.-- Verbarson ( talk) 23:01, 5 September 2021 (UTC)
"During this time, he also learned fluent French ..." You can learn French (or any language) and speak it fluently but you cannot *learn* fluent French. Haynesta ( talk) 15:25, 28 May 2022 (UTC)
It is appropriate for this article to use British English spelling, but not to enforce it when quoting quoting an American source. [1] What spelling did The American Naturalist print? -- Verbarson talk edits 17:49, 28 June 2022 (UTC)
References
Hello! This is to let editors know that File:Robert Howlett_(Isambard_Kingdom_Brunel_Standing_Before_the_Launching_Chains_of_the_Great_Eastern),_The_Metropolitan_Museum_of_Art_-_restoration1.jpg, a featured picture used in this article, has been selected as the English Wikipedia's picture of the day (POTD) for March 4, 2023. A preview of the POTD is displayed below and can be edited at Template:POTD/2023-03-04. For the greater benefit of readers, any potential improvements or maintenance that could benefit the quality of this article should be done before its scheduled appearance on the Main Page. If you have any concerns, please place a message at Wikipedia talk:Picture of the day. Thank you! — Amakuru ( talk) 18:14, 16 February 2023 (UTC)
Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806–1859) was an English civil and mechanical engineer. The son of French engineer Marc Isambard Brunel, he worked under his father as an assistant engineer on the Thames Tunnel project for several years until he was seriously injured in a flooding incident. During his recuperation he began a design for a bridge in Bristol, which would later be completed as the Clifton Suspension Bridge. In 1833, Brunel was appointed chief engineer of the Great Western Railway, overseeing development of the main line from London to Bristol which was completed in 1841. Brunel's other achievements included the design of the first transatlantic steamship and dockyards. This 1857 photograph, titled Isambard Kingdom Brunel Standing Before the Launching Chains of the Great Eastern, was taken by Robert Howlett. It depicts Brunel standing before a drum of chain used during the launching of SS Great Eastern at Millwall in London; he carries a cigar case, and his boots and trousers are muddy. Photograph credit: Robert Howlett; restored by Bammesk
Recently featured:
|