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DAMIREZ, VON ERIC A. ME 2 REACTION PAPER Seven Wonders of the Industrial World is a 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

Seven Wonders of Industrial World

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Page 1: Seven Wonders of Industrial World

DAMIREZ, VON ERIC A.ME 2

REACTION PAPER

Seven Wonders of the Industrial World is a 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,

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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 ship’s 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

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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 city’s 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

London’s 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.