The number 

e, also known as Euler's number, is a mathematical constant approximately equal to

2.71828, and can be characterized in many ways. It is the base of the natural logarithm.[1][2][3] It is
the limit of (1 + 1/n)n as n approaches infinity, an expression that arises in the study of compound
interest. It can also be calculated as the sum of the infinite series[4][5]
It is also the unique positive number a such that the graph of the function y = ax has a slope of 1
at x = 0.[6]
The (natural) exponential function f(x) = ex is the unique function f that equals its
own derivative and satisfies the equation f(0) = 1; hence one can also define e as f(1). The
natural logarithm, or logarithm to base e, is the inverse function to the natural exponential
function. The natural logarithm of a number k > 1 can be defined directly as the area under the
curve y = 1/x between x = 1 and x = k, in which case e is the value of k for which this area
equals one (see image). There are various other characterizations.
e is sometimes called Euler's number, after the Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler (not to be
confused with γ, the Euler–Mascheroni constant, sometimes called simply Euler's constant),
or Napier's constant.  However, Euler's choice of the symbol e is said to have been retained in
[5]

his honor.  The constant was discovered by the Swiss mathematician Jacob Bernoulli while
[7]

studying compound interest.[8][9]

The number e has eminent importance in mathematics,[10] alongside 0, 1, π, and i. All five appear
in one formulation of Euler's identity, and play important and recurring roles across mathematics.
[11][12]
 Like the constant π, e is irrational (that is, it cannot be represented as a ratio of integers)
and transcendental (that is, it is not a root of any non-zero polynomial with rational coefficients).
[5]
 To 50 decimal places the value of e is:
2.71828182845904523536028747135266249775724709369995...