Zerah Colburn (locomotive designer) to England to take up a job as editor of "The Engineer", Britain’s leading weekly technical journal. In this position, Colburn made friends with members of the Institutions of Civil and Mechanical Engineers and became a member of both. He gave frequent lectures and contributed at meetings. It is almost certain that while in London Colburn met Isambard Kingdom Brunel. In 1860, Colburn returned to America on the maiden voyage of the "Great Eastern", Brunel's leviathan steamship. In America he launched a new weekly engineering newspaper, "The Engineer", but this lasted only a few months and Colburn returned to England
Brunel (opera project) Brunel (opera project) The Brunel opera project is a collaboration between Matthew King (composer), Nye Parry (sound design) and Michael Irwin (libretto) to write a dramatic work based on the life and work of Isambard Kingdom Brunel. The opera was the subject of a special feature on BBC Radio 4, broadcast in October 2003, and the project has been documented in detail in the book, "The Reflective Conservatoire". The opera remains a work in progress and has yet to be performed in its entirety. In October 2003, the critic, Martin Hoyle, wrote in the Financial Times: The musical excerpts (from