Indy and Billy Collins on Reading - The Monday Morning Memo

“How much does a whale weigh? Well, a whale weighs nothing. It’s neutrally buoyant in the water. You have to ask, “How much mass does it have?”

The biggest animals that ever existed exist in the water because they don’t have to hold up their own weight against the gravity on earth’s surface. The whale is the biggest creature that ever existed in the history of life on earth, yet it can float because its density is about the same as water.

If it is less dense than water, it would have to use energy to stay underwater because the water will want to make it float.

If you’re chubbier, your body will float, okay? It will float very well, and you have to use energy to go down below.

If you are more dense than water, you’ll sink to the bottom, and it will take energy to stay afloat.

If you’re about the same density as water, you can move through the water.”

- Neil deGrasse Tyson

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