Brunels' achievements spanned both civil and naval engineering projects, and much like Musk he didn't so much invent something completely new, but innovated on existing systems. His work on propeller screws is very much in the same vein as Musk and the Raptor engine. Probably fair to say he was a larger than life figure in his day and a driving force during the industrial revolution.
Fascinating! He even helped get a pneumatic railway built, which failed, and reminds me a bit of hyperloop. If I had to bet on a Musk project that would fail it would be that one. Something about it just feels wrong to my engineering intuition... too tight of tolerances for a civil engineering project.
What the hyperloop set out to achieve was a worthy goal. The cost of high-speed rail in the US is astronomical so any solution that cuts that cost dramatically is a good thing. His plans for the LA-SF route was very much like what Brunel engineered for the GWR with a series of tunnels and bridges to minimise the gradient and allow for high speed and volume. I caught an InterCity125 a heap of times back in the early 80's while living near Chippenham running on the same line Brunel built.
I think with Musk, it's the lesser known achievements like the big battery in South Australia that elevate him to the level of Brunel.
