Seven Wonders of the Industrial World
From the best-selling author of THE DINOSAUR HUNTERS and THE LOST KING OF FRANCE comes the story of how our modern world was forged – in rivets, grease and steam; in blood, sweat and human imagination.The nineteenth century saw the creation of some of the world's most incredible feats of engineering. Deborah Cadbury explores the history behind the epic monuments that spanned the industrial revolution from Brunel's extraordinary Great Eastern, the Titanic of its day that joined the two ends of the empire, to the Panama Canal, that linked the Atlantic and Pacific oceans half a century later.Seven Wonders of the Industrial World recreates the stories of the most brilliant pioneers of the industrial age, their burning ambitions and extravagant dreams, their passions and rivalries as great minds clashed. These were men such as Arthur Powell-Davis, the engineer behind the Hoover Dam, who dreamed of creating the largest dam in the world by diverting the entire Colorado river, one of the worlds most dangerous and unpredictable, or John Roebling, who lost his life creating the Brooklyn Bridge, the longest suspension bridge ever built. These are also the stories of countless unsung heroes – the craftsmen and workers without whose perseverance nothing would have been achieved, not to mention the financiers and shareholders hanging on for the ride as fortunes – and reputations – were lost and won.Cadbury leads us on an amazing journey from the freezing snows of the Alps to the mosquito-ridden wilds of the Central American jungle as we see uncontrollable rivers tamed, continents conquered and vast oceans joined.Note that it has not been possible to include the same picture content that appeared in the original print version.
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SEVEN WONDERS
OF THE INDUSTRIAL WORLD
Deborah Cadbury
Contents
The great achievements celebrated in this book reveal as much about the human spirit as they do of technological endeavour. The period of over 125 years from the beginning of the nineteenth century saw the creation of some of the worldâs most remarkable feats of engineering, now celebrated as wonders of the world, from Isambard Kingdom Brunelâs extraordinary Great Eastern, the âCrystal Palace of the Seasâ that he hoped would join the two ends of the British empire, to the Panama Canal, that linked the Atlantic and Pacific oceans in 1914.
The slowly evolving Industrial Revolution was the fertile ground that gave life to these dreams in iron, cement, stone and steel. The pioneers of the age were practical visionaries, seeing beyond the immediate horizon, the safe and the known; taking risks and taking society with them as they cut a path to the future. Yet their unique masterpieces could never have been built without an army of unsung heroes, the craftsmen and workers also willing to take risks as they laboured to bring each dream to life. And as each great scheme unfolded, the financiers and shareholders were there too, caught up in the exuberant process and hanging on for the ride as reputations were lost and won.
The Bell Rock Lighthouse â the oldest âwonderâ featured in this book â was created while Britain was in the grip of the Napoleonic wars. In 1807, Robert Stevenson, the grandfather of Robert Louis Stevenson who wrote Treasure Island, started work on the Bell Rock Lighthouse in wild northern seas off the east coast of Scotland. For years he had longed to make his mark on the world, bringing light to the treacherous Scottish coast. He dreamed of taking on the most dangerous place of all: the Bell Rock, a large reef eleven miles out to sea positioned right in the middle of the approach to the safe haven of the Firth of Forth. Over the centuries, this deadly reef, submerged at high tide, had cost so many lives it âbreathed abroad an atmosphere of terrorâ along the whole coast.
Like so many pioneers of the Industrial Revolution, Stevenson had cheap labour available, men desperate for work and often prepared to risk their lives for a meagre wage. This was a time when coal and iron ore were mined by hand and canals were dug with picks and shovels. The cotton factories, railways, shipbuilding: all needed a plentiful supply of labour. The population was rising rapidly, in England and Wales alone from under 7 million in 1750 to 18 million a century later. And because of recent improvements in agricultural husbandry, rich landowners and farmers could now produce more with fewer workers. As the rich enclosed their land and the old medieval field strips worked by a peasant population for centuries disappeared, a new landless class labouring for a wage emerged.
The opportunities of the town beckoned, drawing wave upon wave of willing recruits. During the nineteenth century the major cities grew, doubling and redoubling like cells dividing. Yet at this stage, industrialisation had yet to bring real benefits to the working man. Even after the 1832 Reform Act, a working man had few rights; he was unlikely to qualify for the vote and government sympathies lay with his employers. Just moving to one of Englandâs growing cities could lower life expectancy, which for a labourer was rarely much more than 35 years, and in some cities, like London or Liverpool, lower still. Many women died giving birth and although there were wide variations, records show that in cities like Manchester almost 60 per cent of children from poor families did not reach five years of age, dying mostly from infectious diseases. The poor often lived in such pitiful squalor; sometimes several families sharing a single room. Wages were low; there were no unions, pensions or social security and no minimum age for labour. Amongst the poorest families everybody was obliged to work: men, women and children.
Children as young as nine or ten were employed in building Isambard Kingdom Brunelâs colossal ship, the Great Eastern, which was built on the banks of the Thames between 1853 and 1858. They were essential, working in the confined space of the unique double hull of this grand ship, heating and handling thousands of white-hot rivets. Horrific accidents were all too frequent but a death simply meant that there was employment for another child and there was no shortage of willing workers. There is a noticeable absence of records though â the names and wages of the unsung labourers not even worthy of a note in the minute books of the great companies or journals of leading men.
Brunel hoped the
