Kevin Johnson and Mathew Boley recalled the following in a recent thread on sci.math: a = b a^2 = ab a^2-b^2 = ab-b^2 (a+b)(a-b) = b(a-b) a+b = b 2b = b 2 = 1 x = (Pi+3)/2 2x = Pi+3 2x(Pi-3) = (Pi+3)(Pi-3) 2Pix-6x = Pi^2-9 9-6x = Pi^2-2Pix 9-6x+x^2 = Pi^2-2Pix+x^2 (3-x)^2 = (Pi-x)^2 3-x = Pi-x Pi = 3 -1 = -1 -1/1 = -1/1 -1/1 = 1/-1 sqrt(-1/1) = sqrt(1/-1) i/1 = 1/i i = 1/i i * i = 1 -1 = 1