This brings to mind Gordon R. Dickson’s book Secret Under The Sea. In the distant future of 2013 divers can wear tiny atom-powered oxygen masks. But Vandals–a luddite group opposed to scientific advancement–are forced to travel in submarines or wear bulky diving suits because of the beards they wear.
That makes it difficult for them to carry out their plans to undermine the underwater cultivation of Martian plants and animals.
