Transcendence of e and π

The transcendence of e and π are direct corollaries of this theorem.

Suppose α is a nonzero algebraic number; then {α} is a linearly independent set over the rationals, and therefore by the first formulation of the theorem {e^α} is an algebraically independent set; or in other words e^α is transcendental. In particular, e¹ = e is transcendental. (A more elementary proof that e is transcendental is outlined in the article on transcendental numbers.)

Alternatively, using the second formulation of the theorem, we can argue that if α is a nonzero algebraic number, then {0, α} is a set of distinct algebraic numbers, and so the set {e⁰, e^α} = {1, e^α} is linearly independent over the algebraic numbers and in particular e^α cannot be algebraic and so it is transcendental.