In science, ergon (TR:9), from the Greek εργον, meaning "in deed" (Kahn, 1979), from erga, meaning "work"; generally contrasted with its antithesis logos or "in word". [1]
Etymology
In 475BC, Greek philosopher Heraclitus introduced the term "ergon", and or in the form of “en-ergon”, related to heat or fire, as the primordial source of activity or “energy” in modern parlance.
Greek philosopher Aristotle, in his Nicomachean Ethics, was using the term “ergon” in the sense of function, task, or work. [2]
“This unabashed striving for individual pre-eminence, in the spirit of an athletic competition or a contemporary race for the American presidency, is specified for the Homeric hero by two ranges of activity in which he may achieve distinction: to ‘be a speaker of words’ and a ‘doer of deeds’ (Iliad, 9:443). The deeds are those of military and athletic prowess; the words are those of wise counsel and planning. This ancient duality of speech and action remains as a permanent paradigm for the classification of achievements: it is echoed in Heraclitus’ opening reference to the ‘words and works (erga) which I set forth' (fragment I), as in the later Sophistic antithesis between ‘in word’ (logos) and ‘in deed’ (ergon). It is natural to take the heroes of the two Homeric epics as supreme examples of success in these two fields: Achilles as the greatest warrior at Troy, and Odysseus as the wiliest and most sagacious of mortal men. For a good ‘speaker of words’ is of course a man of discretion and foresight: language stands here for intelligence. We may speak of a contrast between the active and the calculating or the military and the intellectual virtues, as long as we realize that the intelligence which is prized is the practical use of words and wits to guide successful action.”— Charles Kahn (1979), The Art and Thought of Heraclitus (pg. 12) [1]