Eureka (word)

Heureka is ancient Greek ( εὕρηκα ) and is called "I have [ it ] found." The award is handed down and mainly known in connection with Archimedes of Syracuse. Grammatically, it is the first -person singular perfect active indicative of εὑρίσκειν "find".

Pronunciation

The common pronunciation in German [ hɔɪreka ] gives the original pronunciation is not properly again. This was in classical Greek about [ hɛ ː ka ː ǔ̯rɛ ] ( spelling ηὕρηκα ), later [ ka ː heǔ̯rɛ ] ( spelling εὕρηκα ). In today's Greek it is [ evrika ] ( spelling εύρηκα ).

Origin and use

The cry has become famous after a reported by Plutarch and Vitruvius anecdote, according to Archimedes of Syracuse naked and loud Eureka! to have run shouting through the city, after he had discovered in the bathtub named after him Archimedes' principle. Since Eureka is used as a joyous exclamation after a successful solution of a heavy (mostly mental) task and is also synonymous with a sudden realization.

The slogan was also used by the famous mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss. When he discovered in 1796 that every positive integer can be represented as a sum of three triangular numbers, he wrote the following line in his notebook: " ΕΥΡΗΚΑ! num = Δ Δ Δ "

Eureka is the state motto of the U.S. state of California.