Eureka - Definition and Overview

Eureka is a famous exclamation attributed to Archimedes. He reportedly uttered the word when he suddenly understood buoyancy, subsequently leaping out of his bathtub and running through the streets of Syracuse naked. "Eureka" is a simple form of the Greek verb heuriskein, meaning "to find"; it means "I have found it!" As a result, Eureka is a common interjection to usually express the triumphant discovery of a significant scientific or intellectual fact.

The expression is quoted as the state motto of California, referring to the momentous discovery of gold near Sutter's Mill in 1848.

Place names

Several places are named for the expression:

• Eureka, California and Yreka, California
• Eureka, Kansas
• Eureka, Missouri
• Eureka, Montana
• Eureka, South Dakota
• Eureka Springs, Arkansas.
• Eureka, Nunavut in Canada.
• Eureka, Victoria in Australia

More than one of these places are or were involved in the gold mining industry, with the phrase 'I found it' having an obvious connection.

Other meanings

• The name of an asteroid co-orbital with Mars, 5261 Eureka (see also 3753 Cruithne)
• The name of the European Union's research and development organization, see EUREKA.
• The 1854 Australian miners' revolt at the Eureka Stockade.
• Eureka is the name of an online game developed by Free Fall Associates.
• Eureka is an 1848 prose poem by Edgar Allan Poe
• Eureka is an 1890 built steam ferryboat now preserved in San Francisco, California.