The New York Times > Week in Review > The Best of Physics: What Makes an Equation Beautiful
I love the beauty in these equations. e^(pi*i) + 1 = 0 is one of the greatest equations ever. I just love it. It takes the short hand for expressing the relationship of 1/x to the x axis as x goes to infinity, the short hand for the relationship of a diameter to the circumference of a circle, the short hand for the square root of -1 and relates them to the two most fundamental concepts in the universe: something (1) and nothing (0). All the components seem independent, yet they are all related. Outstanding!!
One thing that just ran across my mind was the relationship of entropy to physics and math. If our universe tends towards chaos and equations bring order to the chaos, aren't these equations violating the laws of thermodynamics?
[Updated] Added a definition.