YOUR article (NATURE, August 29, 1912) on the report of the Advisory Committee having emphasised the contention from the first of some of us (students of science and old naval commanders) as to the insanity of high speed â at night in the known vicinity of ice,â it behoves surely men of science to ask the question whether we have not reached the imperative limits of that false security which the â practical manâ is wont to feel in his contempt for scientific â theoryâ ; and, further, whether the time has not therefore come for legislation requiring commanders of the largest ocean-going steamers to hold a diploma, guaranteeing such a systematic course of study (say in a class at Greenwich or Kensington) in marine physiography and the elementary laws of mechanics as would quicken their imagination as to the uncertainty and the magnitude of the risks to be run in an abnormally ice-drifted sea. Lord Mersey's report may whitewash the facts, but the facts en évidence remain; and the chain of cause and effect in the lamentable and tragic loss of the Titanic leads us in the last resort to the notorious contempt for scientific acquaintance with the facts and laws of nature on the part of the â practical man.â