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Chronology of Research
Derek found his research niche when he applied his knowledge of engineering and
management to the study of historical engineering projects from a business
perspective. The first product of this endeavour was the unpublished book 'The
Thames Tunnel - A Business Venture'. Continuing in the same research vein,
Derek’s next major piece of research was another unpublished book entitled 'The
Clifton Suspension Bridge - A Business Enterprise'. The published article 'A
Business History of the Clifton Suspension Bridge' is based on this latter work.
Derek’s study of the Clifton Suspension Bridge led to an interest in early
suspension bridges in general. He wrote an unpublished paper 'Suspension Bridges
in Britain in the Early Nineteenth Century', gave a Rolt Lecture at the
University of Bath on the same subject and also contributed a chapter on
Suspension Bridges to a book on Engineering Disasters. More provocatively he
gave a lecture to the Newcomen Society titled 'How Much Did Brunel Really Know
About Suspension Bridges or Did Davies Gilbert Know Better? Clifton Suspension
Bridge, 1831'.
The business histories of the Thames Tunnel and the Clifton
Suspension Bridge concerned Marc Isambard Brunel (1769-1849) and his more
celebrated son Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806-1859). Far less well known is
Isambard Kingdom’s second and youngest son Henry Marc Brunel (1842-1903) who was
also an engineer. The final piece of research Derek completed before his death
was an unpublished biography of Henry’s life called 'Henry Marc Brunel –
Engineer or Bon Viveur?'. There are two variants of an article based on this
book: 'Henry Marc Brunel – Civil Engineer' and 'Henry Marc Brunel - Engineer'.
The former was published while it is believed that the latter was not. Some of
the source material for the work on Henry Marc Brunel was provided by Geoffrey
Tudor of Bude, Cornwall.
The full details of where Derek’s articles were published, and copies of his
manuscripts are held, are contained in the Research Archive section of this website.
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