1. Also, he⋅ro⋅i⋅cal. of, pertaining to, or characteristic of a hero or heroine.

2. suitable to the character of a hero in size or concept; daring; noble: a heroic ambition.

3. having or displaying the character or attributes of a hero; extraordinarily bold, altruistic, determined, etc.: a heroic explorer.

4. having or involving recourse to boldness, daring, or extreme measures: Heroic measures were taken to save his life.

5. dealing with or describing the deeds, attributes, etc., of heroes, as in literature.

6. of, pertaining to, or characteristic of the heroes of antiquity:heroic mythology.

7. used in heroic poetry. Compare heroic verse.

8. resembling heroic poetry in language or style; grandiloquent. 9. (of style or language) lofty; extravagant; grand.

10. larger than life-size: a statue of heroic proportions.

from

he⋅ro  ~  [heer-oh]

1. a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and NOBLE QUALITIES.

2. a person who, in the opinion of others, has heroic qualities or has performed a heroic act and is regarded as a model or ideal: He was a local hero when he saved the drowning child.

3. the principal male character in a story, play, film, etc.

4. Classical Mythology.       

a. a being of godlike prowess and beneficence who often came to be honored as a divinity.                

b. (in the Homeric period) a warrior-chieftain of special strength, courage, or ability.

c. (in later antiquity) an immortal being; demigod.             

5. hero sandwich.

6. the bread or roll used in making a hero sandwich.

i know its hard to think past a HERO as being: someone fighting in a war, a comic book superhero, someone carrying a gun or saving a baby from a burning building, but try not to denegrate other people's accomplishments just because you don't understand them. 

doing so would make you INCREDIBLE (2nd definition).

in⋅cred⋅i⋅ble  ~ [in-kred-uh-buhl] 

1. so extraordinary as to seem impossible: incredible speed.

2. not credible; hard to believe; unbelievable: The plot of the book is incredible. 

           >whew<

man who writes and has limited vocabulary, attempts to belittle mathematicians and slag 'media' illustrates his own arrogance (or is it ignorance or is it both). oh, this drips with irony. i wouldn't use the word LITTLE, i think PETTY would be more appropriate.  

The trouble is, that the government educated masses would not understand any more appropriate adjectives. If this short news story had labeled the work assiduous, for instance, most would be baffled. With a "book learnin' is for losers" attitude, most would dare not look to a dictionary and probably believe a thesaurus is a type of dinosaur. I believe this is just another example of the dumbing down of America.

Come on.  This is France we are talking about. They have no idea what heroism means.

Some mathematicians just now proved General Relativity?
Huh.
I remember proving it in a college lab using atomic clocks and "trains". Guess that showing the predicted results through experimentation is not sufficiently rigorous to "prove" it in a mathematical sense.
Sounds like a slow news day all around...

jmt
http://www.jmichaelt.org

Shouldn't Einstein be considered the heroic one?  After all, HE'S the one who actually came up with this theory and he faced HUGE resistance to the initial acceptance of his theories and formulas by the "established" scientists of the day.  The fact that Einstein is now "proven" correct makes HIM the hero, and not the "French, German and Hungarian physicists" who are merely confirming his breakthrough theories and formulas.

Obama: My job is above my pay grade

This has gone on for quite some time. Advertising practically invented this idea on its own.

Not sure its fodder for a diatribe on the dumbing down of language. It was a poor word choice.

It's a fact that language does this all the time.  People change the way they use words, which in turn changes the meaning.

Perusing the comments in this thread actually highlights this change.  While many commenters understand the intent inherent to the original article, others don't see the point because they've long since accepted as common those meanings that the dictionary includes as accepted but lesser meanings of the word.  If the dictionary were designed like the old pop music charts, then some of those lesser meanings would be listed as "#7 with a bullet".  [If you're too young to understand the reference, it meant the song was still climbing the chart and could move to a higher standing.]

The struggle is twofold:  to understand each other as we use the evolving language, and maintain the ability to express what we need to say.  In the example of heroic, I'd say that it's become a casualty of the 'Self-esteem Era' that looks for ways to tell people how great they are when they've done nothing.  Now people who have done something have to up the ante, which in turn dominoes down those who have sacrificed and accomplished much.  Words that used to be reserved for the greatest achievers have moved down the scale to describe anyone who achieves anything.

Perhaps it's a measure of just how much we as a society seek to have those we can believe in, that we try elevate people to a place that our forefathers in the US once reserved for gods and saints.  Unfortunately, this "dumbing down" of the language doesn't really move people up the ladder -- it just moves the rungs closer together.