New Paperback From Princeton University Press - An Imaginary Tale

[Glenn Scheper]

> The Story of i [the square root of minus one]

It is amazing that Google could make any sense of
	e ^ 2 pi i
and after suggesting do I mean,
	+e ^ 2 pi i
found 85 million hits, which top ones are relevant.

http://www.faqs.org/faqs/sci-math-faq/specialnumbers/eulerFormula/
sci.math FAQ: e^(i Pi) = -1 Euler's formula

http://www.cs.uwaterloo.ca/~alopez-o/math-faq/mathtext/node13.html
Euler's formula: e^(i pi) = -1 

http://home.earthlink.net/~tdp/e-pi.html
"e" and "pi" explained

I am but an infant in number theory, but I wondered about the
possibility that this number relationship represents a method
of converting the continuous into the discrete:

Exponentiation with positive and negative exponents represent
going outward and inward from 1 on the positive real number line.

Exponentiation by positive and negative imaginary exponents
represents rotation counterclockwise or clockwise around
the complex origin starting at plus one, going some amount
given by the exponent less the i, measured in radians. Every
2 Pi represents one full revolution, and is on the real axis.

I am too unread to know if there is any theoretical interest in
generating the discrete from the continuous. If there is, surely
some math sharpie must have already considered this relationship.

But,
the sun goes continuously around the earth, and you count days.
the earth goes continously around the sun, and you count years.

Yours truly,
Glenn Scheper
http://home.earthlink.net/~glenn_scheper/
glenn_scheper + at + earthlink.net
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