where does the irrational number e come from
e (mathematical constant) The number e is a mathematical constant, approximately equal to 2.71828, which appears in many different settings throughout mathematics. It was discovered by the Swiss mathematician Jacob Bernoulli while studying compound interest,[1] where e arises as the limit of (1 + 1/n)n as n approaches infinity. The number e can also be calculated as the sum of the infinite series[2]