Why is $\arctan(x)=x-x^3/3+x^5/5-x^7/7+\dots$? Why is $\arctan(x)=x-x^3/3+x^5/5-x^7/7+\dots$?
Can someone point me to a proof, or explain if it's a simple answer?
What I'm looking for is the point where it becomes understood that trigonometric functions and pi can be expressed as series.  A lot of the information I find when looking for that seems to point back to arctan.

Many of the functions you encounter on a regular basis are analytic functions, meaning that they can be written as a Taylor series or Taylor expansion. A Taylor series of $f(x)$ is an infinite series of the form $\sum_{i=0}^\infty a_ix^i$ which satisfies $f(x) = \sum_{i=0}^\infty a_ix^i$ wherever the series converges. Trigonometric functions are examples of analytic functions, and the series you are asking about is the Taylor series of $\operatorname{arctan}(x)$ about $0$ (the meaning of this is explained in the link). You can read more about Taylor series here.
