>>>>> "Stephen" ==   <stephen.buckley@excite.com> writes:
    Stephen> Dear Sir
    Stephen> Maple simplifies 
    Stephen> sqrt(4+2*sqrt(3))
    Stephen> to
    Stephen> sqrt(3) + 1
    Stephen> Is there any way to get Maxima to do this?
You can do this if you load the sqdnst package.  Then
(C2) sqrtdenest(sqrt(4+2*sqrt(3)));
(D2) 				  SQRT(3) + 1
Ray