This section is from the book "The Engineer's And Mechanic's Encyclopaedia", by Luke Hebert. Also available from Amazon: Engineer's And Mechanic's Encyclopaedia.
Levity in Natural Philosophy, is that supposed property of a body by which it is said to be less weighty than another body, bulk for bulk; levity in this sense is the opposite to gravity. Thus cork, and all those substances that float on the surface of the water, have levity with respect to the water; or in other words, they are less heavy than that fluid.
 
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