Can someone explain this to me please?

[pi]

This is a bit lame, but it has been puzzling me for the last few mins.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonhard_Euler#Personal_philosophy_and_religious_beliefs, I really don't understand the last paragraph "joke"

Any explanation/thoughts of why Euler's "proof" (which I'm assuming is a joke) caused Diderot to be embarrassed, especially as it says he was a mathematician himself?

[Russ]

This was in the Paradox magazine I read yesterday, that's really spooky.

As I understood it, the equation is nonsensical and the only way it can equal X is if there's a divine intercession. Mathematicians have really bad humour.

[TrueTears]

If a, b, x were all integers then would b^n=nx-a have an integral solution to n?

[pi]

This was in the Paradox magazine I read yesterday, that's really spooky.

That is spooky

As I understood it, the equation is nonsensical and the only way it can equal X is if there's a divine intercession. Mathematicians have really bad humour.

Oh. Yeh, that is a pretty bad joke (is it even true?) 

Thanks Russ!

[Russ]

Oh. Yeh, that is a pretty bad joke (is it even true?) 

That mathematicians have bad humour? Yes, |absolutely|.

Moderator action: removed real name, sorry for the inconvenience