I appreciate that background info. I hadn't tried invoking maxima because I read somewhere that simplify() used maxima. I must've been reading outdated material. As you stated, maxima does the correct thing. Because Sage can invoke maxima, perhaps I have a work around. You're right that this issue should be considered in the context of powers. In that context, I think it is even more clear that "5^(-1/2)" is simpler than "(1/5) * 5^(1/2)". Leaving the additional term doesn't seem like a big deal, but by preventing subsequent simplifications, and by combining and recombining with other large expressions, it can have highly undesirable effects. I took a quick look at ginsh, the GiNaC interactive shell. It converts 1/sqrt(5) to 1/5*sqrt(5) so I suspect that this issue can be traced to the GiNaC canonical form. I'm not a CAS expert but I know a fair amount about computer system interfaces and I'm sure this issue adversely impacts the user experience. Nobody would select equation obfuscation mode given the choice. I think this issue should be taken up with the GiNaC folks. Do they hang out in this group? -Mark
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