When I was in high school, I really liked numbers because they felt grand. Unlike subjects such as politics & law, history or economics, where it is largely humans who have created them, the laws of mathematics seemed to defy human capabilities.

Maths can be grand because of its absolute nature. Pythagoras’ theorem will hold for right-angled triangles no matter how hard any human tries otherwise.

On the other hand, maths can be grand because of its absolutely non-absolute nature. The circumference:diameter ratio of a circle is always π (pi), which is an irrational number spanning an infinite number of digits. In my high school, you got a prize if you could recount the first 75 digits of π. However, try all you want, it is straight up impossible to get to all the digits.

While maths in general is pretty amazing, one of the most beautiful formulas in maths is Euler’s identity, which states:

It looks simple, but the more you think about it, the more mind-boggling it is. Here’s an explanation for some of these terms:

• e = Euler’s number. It is the limit of (1+1/n)ⁿ as n approaches infinity. Like π, it is an irrational number and looks something like 2.71828. It is very important in exponentials and logarithms.
• i = the Imaginary unit. It is defined as the square root of -1.
• π = The circumference:diameter ratio of a circle, approximated to be 3.1415. Also used in angles as radians.

Somehow, when you multiply π and i together and raise it to the e, you get -1. These three seemingly unrelated concepts, ranging from logarithms, imaginary numbers and circles/radians, all come together to the unsuspecting -1. And when you add 1 to -1, you get 0. This is Euler’s identity.

While there are many proofs of Euler’s identity, it always astounds me how wonderfully these concepts come together. I imagine a Mexican grandma, a middle-aged Englishman and a Japanese boy coming together and unsuspectingly becoming a perfect entity. It seems too ridiculous to be true. But it is. And that’s why numbers are really great.