Paul,

Yes, the number negative two written as -2 is equivalent to (-2). And if you square it you end up with positive four written as 4.

>I'm thinking the argument isn't if "-2 squared is -4"; from what I've seen, that isn't the case. It's definitely 4. It's that if it's written as this:
>
>-2^2 = -4
>
>instead of this:
>
>(-2)^2 = 4
>
>It changes the meaning of what you've written.
>
>If you've got some credible sources instead of what's been posted, I'd personally like to see them. I've actually found the Dr. Math site as fairly credible, as well as Wikipedia. But if they're wrong, I want to understand why (and who is making the claims so I can evaluate them in context).

Unfortunately google searches pull up pages that proclaim incorrectness to be the truth.

>Math is hard, let's go shopping.

Jimmy Buffett has a great song on an album from around negative five years from now... "Math Sucks" it's quite funny indeed. "I Will Play For Gumbo" is another great song from that album and know I'm thinking of a piece of french bread with which to wipe my bowl...