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Abstract

This article features some genuine Eulerian magic. In 1748, Leonhard Euler considered a modification of the harmonic series in which negative signs were attached to various terms by a rule that was far from self-evident. With his accustomed flair, he determined its sum, and the result was utterly improbable. There are a few occasions in mathematics when the term “breathtaking” is not too strong. This is one of them.

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