Eureka (word)
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Eureka is an exclamation used to celebrate a discovery or invention. It is a transliteration of an exclamation attributed to Ancient Greek mathematician and inventor Archimedes.
Archimedes exclaiming Eureka. In his excitement, he forgets to dress and runs nude in the streets straight out of his bath. Drawing by Pietro Scalvini, engraving by Carlo Orsolini, 1737.
16th-century illustration of Archimedes in the bath, with Hiero's crown at bottom right
Am Cyc California seal
Hiero II of Syracuse
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Hiero II was the Greek tyrant of Syracuse, Greek Sicily, from 275 to 215 BC, and the illegitimate son of a Syracusan noble, Hierocles, who claimed descent from Gelon. He was a former general of Pyrrhu
Eureka (word)
…discovery that he leapt out of his bathtub and ran naked through the streets of Syracuse. Archimedes' insight led to the solution of a problem posed by Hiero of Syracuse, on how to assess the purity of an irregular golden votive crown; he had given his goldsmith the pure gold to be used, and correctly suspected he had…
Great altar of Syracuse, built by Hiero II
Image of Philistis (left), the wife of Hiero II, from a coin.