# Intriguing integrals: Part II

Issue 54
in
March 2010

### Euler's formula for ex

We want to prove the identity

 (1)
If we consider the Taylor series for , on the left hand side we have On the right, we can expand out the product using the Binomial Theorem The coefficient of equals As each term here containing converges to giving or exactly the Taylor series for .

You might think this argument has made somewhat cavalier use of limits. The following argument, adapted from [1, pg 272], is close to Euler's original. He was even more bold in his use of limits!

"Euler unhesitatingly accepts the existence of both infinitely small and infinitely large numbers, and uses them to such effect that the modern reader's own hesitation must be tinged with envy." [1, pg 272]

Thinking about near , and its gradient, we see that, for infinitely small

This is illustrated above. Let be any given number, then is infinitely large. So

### Reference

[1] C.H. Edwards, The Historical Development of the Calculus, Springer-Verlag, 1979.