Isambard Kingdom Brunel FRS was an English mechanical and civil engineer who is considered one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history and one of the greatest figures of the Industrial Revolution, who changed the face of the English landscape with his groundbreaking designs and ingenious constructions.

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Though Brunel's projects were not always successful, they often contained innovative solutions to long standing engineering problems.

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Brunel set the standard for a well built railway, using careful surveys to minimise grades and curves. This necessitated expensive construction techniques and new bridges and viaducts, and the two mile long Box Tunnel. One controversial feature was the wide gauge, a "broad gauge" of 7 ft 1⁄4 in, instead of what was later to be known as 'standard gauge' of 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in. The wider gauge added to passenger comfort but made construction much more expensive and caused difficulties when eventually it had to interconnect with other railways using the narrower gauge. As a result of the Regulating the Gauge of Railways Act 1846, the gauge was changed to standard gauge throughout the GWR network.

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Brunel astonished Britain by proposing to extend the Great Western Railway westward to North America by building steam-powered iron-hulled ships. He designed and built three ships that revolutionised naval engineering.

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In 2002, Brunel was placed second in a BBC public poll to determine the "100 Greatest Britons".

Isambard Kingdom Brunel against the launching chains of the SS Great Eastern at Millwall in 1857