Musical therapy

I am of the firmly held belief that the only thing keeping me sane these days is working on playing (however crudely) the preludes and fugues of the Well Tempered Clavier. Fortunately, although apparently the finite work of but one human being, it is a nearly limitless well. 

 

  

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"The answer" to life, the universe & everything isn't 42 (Sorry, Douglas Adams), but 1/137, known as the fine structure constant, α (alpha), a pure, dimensionless number equal to the proportional strength of the electromagnetic interaction between elementary charged particles (which is essentially everything we actually see and feel):

α = ⁠e²4πε₀ħc ⁠≅ 1/137.0

Why it has this value, very close to the ratio of two integers, and not some other arbitrary value, is a cosmic mystery.