Description
Exponentiation is just extended multiplication, or is it? Only up to a point. In reality, Real numbers don't really exist, there are only a finite number of Integers, negative zero is not always the same as positive zero, and Complex numbers really are. All of which make exponentiation both subtle and computationally expensive. A retrospective and prospective of the intricacies of reification of 'number' and the occasional futility of mathematical operations in particular, **.