TITLE: Ways to evaluate $\int \sec \theta \, \mathrm d \theta$
QUESTION [103 upvotes]: The standard approach for showing $\int \sec \theta \, \mathrm d \theta = \ln|\sec \theta + \tan \theta| + C$ is to multiply by $\dfrac{\sec \theta + \tan \theta}{\sec \theta + \tan \theta}$ and then do a substitution with $u = \sec \theta + \tan \theta$.
I like the fact that this trick leads to a fast and clean derivation, but I also find it unsatisfying: It's not very intuitive, nor does it seem to have applicability to any integration problem other than $\int \csc \theta \,\mathrm d \theta$.  Does anyone know of another way to evaluate $\int \sec \theta \, \mathrm d \theta$?

REPLY [2 votes]: My favorite way:
$$\int\frac{d\theta}{\cos\theta}=\int\frac{\cos\theta\,d\theta}{\cos^2\theta}=\int\frac{d\sin\theta}{1-\sin^2\theta}=\text{artanh}(\sin\theta).$$