Is Dr. Math wrong? (Re: [Maxima] 0^0 question)

Martin RUBEY <rubey@labri.fr> writes:

>> that it shouldn't.  I've seen several mentions along the lines of
>>  For certain f(x),  lim_{x -> 0} f(x) doesn't exist, so
>>  f(0) shouldn't exist
>> which I don't really buy.
>
>> The Dr. Math article mentioned discusses it, and ends with
>>   Consensus has recently been built around setting the       
>>   value of 0^0 = 1 .       
>> That's how I've always understood it, also.  Is Dr. Math wrong?
>
> In "everyday maths" yes, because you can check it. 

Check what?  I'm not really sure what you mean here.

> You can't check what 
> maxima is doing internally. And I think it's better to stay on the safe 
> side here... (in fact I'm sure you will produce obscure bugs when you 
> silently set 0^0 = 1 in limit, taylor, sum, maybe integrate, ...)

I agree with staying on the safe side, but can you come up with any
examples of obscure bugs that arise by setting 0^0=1?

Jay