THE IMPENETRABLE SEA 



the entire area of the world's oceans become, at some 

 future time, brilHantly illuminated, and all their multi- 

 farious species catalogued and described, so that no 

 single inch of the deepest floors remained uninvestigated, 

 new mysteries would unfold within and beyond every 

 school of knowledge acquired. Myriads of new facts 

 would fructify as science sent forth new exploratory roots. 

 Growth is an eternal process which cannot be confined or 

 ended by fruition. Impenetrable today — in the sense that 

 it is baffling and inscrutable — the sea will remain im- 

 penetrable as long as man inhabits this spinning planet. 

 Sir Cyril Hinshelwood's words, spoken as President of 

 the Royal Society in June 1957 when he was asked what 

 was hoped to be gained from the Geophysical Year, are 

 particularly applicable to the sea and its wonders : 



If we could predict all that we would learn it would 

 not be worth doing. The Creator was much cleverer 

 than Man, however, and has done all sorts of things 

 that we never suspected. Any new knowledge may 

 produce a discovery of great value. The more unpre- 

 dictable that knowledge was in advance, the greater 

 its value will be. 



272 



