  Ill-fated ... the Titanic, guided by tugs. Photo: Topical
Press Agency/Getty Image  The sinking of the Titanic on its
maiden voyage from Southampton to New York in April 1912 remains
one of the more powerful myths and metaphors in modern culture,
as well as being the cause of about 1500 deaths that, in
hindsight, could have been avoided.  The terrible accident
appears to have had its root cause in hubris and negligence on
the part of the ship's designers and operators. The Titanic, a
classic example in engineering of form not always following
function, was travelling too fast in dangerous waters and lacked
sufficient life craft to protect all the people on board.
Designed to look good above all, one of the four funnels on the
ship was actually installed for aesthetic effect alone.  As the
subtitle of Titanic Lives suggests, the ship's passenger list
represents a microcosm of transatlantic society of its era, the
vessel a sort of human ark whose passengers were assembled at
random and whose lives were ended,