A Waterbedtime Story™ by Irvin Saathoff
Swept up in the popularity wave of the 1970’s and working for a waterbed shop to supplement my starving design student lifestyle, but being raised with a mid-western show-me state of mind, it took me a minute to buy into the logic of fluid suspension sleep. And though having become fairly well educated about the health benefits very often backed by medical studies, as a skeptical mechanically inclined kind of guy, it wasn’t until Mark Miller (President of InnoMax) wove Archimedes Principle into the dialogue that the logic of waterbed fluid dynamics began to sink in.
Archimedes’ principle, physical law of buoyancy, discovered by the ancient Greek mathematician and inventor Archimedes, states that “any body completely or partially submerged in a fluid at rest is acted upon by an upward, or buoyant, force, the magnitude of which is equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by the body”* As Archimedes' principle is a law of physics fundamental to fluid mechanics, I could finally wrap my head around the logic. Furthermore Mr Miller (aka M) asserts the fluid dynamics of waterbed sleep are interactive and different than active support of mattresses that push up against the body or passive support mattresses which sag as both contribute to pressure points.
Archimedes of Syracuse (c. 287 – c. 212 BC) Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer, and inventor**
Speaking of sinking in and wrapping ones head around things, as Archimedes’ principle further verified fluid contours to uniquely shaped objects, ironically it meant water was wrapping around my head the further I sank into bed. So similar to a uniquely shaped iceberg floating in the ocean, a sleeper immersed in a waterbed will experience contouring buoyant support evenly distributed head to toe. As waterbeds have evolved over the years to include a variety of adjustability features and enclosures emulating conventional mattress looks, for your reference, the most immersive designs feature oversized low tension top surfaces with virtually nothing between the sleeper and water.
Ergo, in keeping with Archimedes’ principle which also addressed the diversities of shape, M/InnoMax to this day produces oversize and low tension top surface waterbed mattresses to immerse bodies into a virtually weightless sleep environment. So would you believe yours truly, who secretly doubted other associates complaining about non-waterbed sleep surfaces on business trips back in the day, finally became a convert. The bottom line is, while I’ve slept on all manner of surfaces over the years and have diversified sleep surfaces in our home to include digital air, my deepest most immersive sleep experiences have always been in waterbeds.
In conclusion, Archimedes’ principle logically presents quantifiable fluid dynamic science identifying the unique properties of Waterbed fluid suspension interactive support and immersive sleep.
Contributing author Mark Miller, President of InnoMax, is a Waterbed veteran of the industry since the 1970s. Check back in with the next issue when Waterbedtime Story™ shares yet another perspective. Meanwhile you may connect with InnoMax Corporation anytime at Sleep@InnoMax.com.
*https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/Archimede_bain.jpg
**https://www.britannica.com
