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EΠi + 1=0: The History & Development, Dawne Charters-Nelson
EΠi + 1=0: The History & Development, Dawne Charters-Nelson
Undergraduate Review
I have on occasion run across the equation in books, articles and in conversation with other mathematicians. In each of these encounters the person alluded to a fascination with this equation which links the five most important constants in the whole of analysis:
- 0 = The additive identity
- 1 = The multiplicative identity
- π = The circular constant
- e = The base of the natural logarithms
- i = The imaginary unit
Being a novice mathematician, I wondered how all these fundamental constants could end up in one equation and what it meant. Along with this thought came the realization that …