So you wake up one day wanting to invent a 2-dimensional number system. This requires a new number 𝑖 that's at right angles to 1. So you figure multiplying by 𝑖 must rotate numbers by 90°. So multiplying by 𝑖² rotates by 180°, so
𝑖² = -1
Cool!
Then you notice something else. The derivative of a function in the 𝑦 direction must be 𝑖 times its derivative in the 𝑥 direction, because the derivative is linear and you get the 𝑦 direction by rotating the 𝑥 direction by 90°: that is, multiplying it by 𝑖. So you get this equation:
[ \frac{\partial f}{\partial y} = i \frac{\partial f}{\partial x} ]
Cool!
Then you notice something else. If you use this equation twice you get