189. Gravity

See also 316. PHYSICS .

baragnosis

Medicine. the absence of the power to recognize weight through the senses; the absence of barognosis.

barognosis

Medicine. the conscious perception of weight, especially through cutaneous and muscular nerves.

barology

Archaic. a branch of physics that studied weight and its relationship to gravity.

barophobia

an abnormal fear of gravity.

geotaxis

the movement of an organism in response to the force of gravity.

geotropism

Botany. the response of a plant to the force of gravity. — geotropic, adj.

Hutchinsonianism

the theories of the 18th-century Yorkshireman John Hutchinson, which included a rejection of Newton’s theory of gravitation. See also 43. BIBLE ; 392. THEOLOGY . — Hutchinsonian, adj.

levity

a hypothetical force, opposed to gravity, once believed to be a property inherent in certain bodies or materials.

telekinesis

the production of motion in a body, apparently without the use of material force, a power long claimed by mediums and magicians. Also called teleportation. — telekinetic, adj.

tidology

the science or theory of tides.