DAMIREZ, VON ERIC A.

ME 2
REACTION PAPER

Seven

Wonders

of

the

Industrial

World

is

7-part

British

documentary/docudrama television miniseries that originally aired from 4 September

2003 to 16 October 2003 on BBC. The program examines seven engineering feats that
occurred during the Industrial Revolution. The series examines seven engineering feats
that took place during the Industrial Revolution. These particular feats were chosen
because of their ingenuity, challenges that were overcome when completing them, and
how they affected overall society.
Each of these industrial wonders not only represents a stunning display of
craftsmanship and architecture but at one point added something useful and incredible
to the world. Each is truly a marvelous wonder and deserves its place on the list. The
slowly evolving era became the foundation of their ideas and gave life to these dreams
in cement, iron, stone, and steel. The pioneers were practical visionaries seeing beyond
the horizon to create an infrastructure that will embody the new industrial age and fulfill
the needs of their fellowmen in a more artistic way.

The Great Ship

This episode focuses on the construction of the SS Great Eastern, designed by
Isambard Kingdom Brunel to be both the first ship entirely made out of iron and the
most luxurious vessel of the day. However, whilst the ship itself was a marvel of

shipbuilding, its construction was marred by accidents, scandal and misfortune,

including a fire that practically destroyed the shipbuilder's yard, problems with the
launch and financial scandals, all of which contributed towards Brunel's deteriorating
health and comparatively early demise in 1859 and the popular belief that the ship was
jinxed (a rumour leading to the legend of two bodies being found trapped in the hull
upon its dismantling).
Designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the Great Eastern is an iron sailing
steam ship and was considered to be the largest ship ever built at the time of her 1858
launch. The ship was 692 feet in length and was reputed for being able to carry 4,000
passengers around the world without refueling. The ships designer wanted to take
advantage of the fact that at that time so many people from the UK wanted to immigrate
to America, so he built the ship for that purpose. After a couple of difficult voyages over
the next few years, the ship received considerable damage and was later used for
laying cable. Later the ship was retrofitted for commercial passenger purposes that
seemed to fail leaving her to be changed into a floating visitor area for a large
department store then later sold for scrap metal.

The Sewer King

Set in London during the 1850s, this episode focusses on the construction of the
London sewerage system, built to replace the antiquated medieval system that was
overworked and inadequate for the needs of the then-largest metropolis in the world,
causing epidemics of disease and a permanent foul stench to fill the air. The episode

follows the efforts and work of Joseph Bazalgette, the brilliant engineer who designed
the influential and modern sewer system that would purify the city, transform the streets
above and would result in the end of the epidemics of cholera and typhoid that had
ravaged the population although, ironically not for the reasons that he initially thought.
During the early 19th century, London used the River Thames as an open sewer
which due to the citys growth, became outdated and started causing a foul stench and
disastrous consequences for public health in London. A civil engineer by the name of
Joseph Bazalgette took over the job of building this underground infrastructure. He built
a modern sewer system that purified the city and resulted in the end of the epidemics of
cholera and typhoid that had sickened the population.
Joseph Bazalgette, the chief engineer of the London sewerage system is a great
example of true perseverance and determination as he was challenged to fight for his
ability and ideas for 7 years. His proposal to build an underground network that linked
Londons 1,000 miles of street-level sewers to extinguished the cholera epidemic that
caused deaths to the people was repeatedly rejected by the parliament and thus
resulting to a greater epidemic. But due to the Great stink from the river Thames, the
parliament realizes that something must be done and so passed a bill that permit
Bazalgette to proceed on his plans. Surely it was a crazy idea to build the sewerage
system of a state that can take up to 12 years and so, but he did not hesitate and lose
to the negative critics of the people instead during the 7 years of waiting, he and his
men worked harder to improve every detail of it hoping that the time to put it into work
will pay off.