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Eureka ('Eureka!', or 'Heureka'; Greek (later ); (modern Greek), (ancient Greek, both former and later forms), Anglicised as ) is a famous exclamation attributed to Archimedes. He reportedly uttered the word when he suddenly understood that the volume of an irregular object could be calculated by finding the volume of water displaced when the object was submerged in water, subsequently leaping out of his bathtub and running through the streets of Syracuse naked. "Heureka" is the 1st person singular perfect indicative active of the Greek verb heuriskein, (Greek ) meaning "to find"; it means "I have found it!", or more accurately, "I am in a state of having found it". As a result, "Eureka!" has become an interjection which is used to celebrate a discovery (whether a major scientific truth or something as minor as the finding of a lost item). A "eureka step" is the step in a proof that cracks the problem and paves the way to the solution. The expression is quoted as the state motto of California, referring to the momentous discovery of gold near Sutter's Mill in 1848.
Popular Culture In the British Sci-Fi series Doctor Who, The Doctor explains to his companion Leela in the episode The Talons of Weng-Chiang that Eureka is Greek for 'this bath is too hot'. In the Terry Pratchett novel Interesting Times, Cohen the Barbarian says that Eureka is Ephebian for 'Give me a towel'. Eureka is also a popular T.V. show on the Sci-Fi channel. | ||||||||
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