From a young age Isambard Brunel played with boats. He wrote to his father from school that he had quite worn out his hands by making models. At the age of 11 he witnessed his father's experiments with steam shipping on the River Thames. In his 20s he wrote in his secret diary of his daydreams of leading a fleet of ships against Algiers. This was the exciting age of maritime steam and Brunel was the great innovator. His first ship was the Great Western,...