artificial gravity n.

any technological effect that simulates gravity, esp. in a spaceship

Wikipedia


  • 1927 A. H. Richard Letter in Amazing Stories Sept. 610/1 page image

    A Globe as small as that would not possess sufficient gravity to keep such minute beings on it. And if they endowed it with an artificial gravity, such as they did to the ship through their electronic forces…it would also flatten out the polar bosses and the equatorial bulge.

  • 1930 R. Cummings Brigands of Moon in Astounding Stories Mar. 345/2 page image Ray Cummings bibliography

    The magnetizer control under the chart-room was altered, our artificial gravity cut off. I felt the sudden lightness; I gripped the window casement and clung.

  • 1930 W. O. Stapledon Last & First Men 261 Olaf Stapledon

    An ‘artificial gravity’ system, based on the properties of the electro-magnetic field, could be turned on and regulated at will.

  • 1943 ‘W. Morrison’ Light in Darkness in Thrilling Wonder Stories Fall 104/2 page image William Morrison bibliography

    When he was about half his usual weight, the artificial gravity went on, and from that time on, there was no further change.

  • 1954 R. Sheckley in Galaxy Sept. 126/1 Robert Sheckley

    ‘I'm looking it up right now. Hmm… you didn’t produce artificial gravity, did you?’ ‘Of course. To let the Queels feed.’ ‘Shouldn’t have done that… Queels are light-gravity creatures… When they're subjected to an unusual—for them—gravity, they shrink down to microscopic size, lose consciousness and die.’ ‘But you told me to produce artificial gravity.’

  • 1973 A. C. Clarke Rendezvous with Rama (1974) 44 Arthur C. Clarke

    Others proposed hollow, spinning cylinders so that centrifugal force could provide artificial gravity.

  • 1986 D. Carey Dreadnought! v. 69 Diane Carey bibliography

    The ship whined, straining against its own artificial gravity, creating a gyro effect.

  • 2019 Y. H. Lee Dragon Pearl viii. 66 Yoon Ha Lee bibliography

    Instead of a sleek uniform, silken robes drooped from his shoulders and trailed onto the deck. He must have been pretty confident of the Red Azalea’s artificial gravity to wear an outfit like that.


Research requirements

antedating 1927

Research History
Enoch Forrester submitted a cite from a reprint of Robert Sheckley's "Milk Run"; Mike Christie verified it in the original 1954 magazine appearance.
Fred Galvin submitted cites from a Project Gutenberg etext of "Brigands of the Moon" by Ray Cummings; Jesse Sheidlower verified it in the original (Astounding, March 1930).
Jesse Sheidlower submitted a 1927 cite from a letter to Amazing Stories.
Ben Ostrowsky submitted a 2019 cite from Yoon Ha Lee.

Last modified 2021-03-31 21:14:01
In the compilation of some entries, HDSF has drawn extensively on corresponding entries in OED.